Draft Minutes - Special Called Mtg on May 18, 2020 — original pdf

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` William (Bill) Kelly Kathleen Hausenfluck Rebecca Webber PUBLIC SAFETY COMMISSION SPECIAL CALLED MEETING MINUTES Monday, May 18, 2020 The Public Safety Commission convened a videoconferencing meeting Monday, May 18, 2020 at City Hall 301 W. 2nd Street in Austin, Texas. Commissioner Meghan Hollis called the Board Meeting to order at 3:04p.m. Board Members in Attendance: Meghan Hollis Daniela Nunez Rebeca Bernhardt Selena Alvarenga Chris Harris Board Members Absent: Commissioner Rebecca Gonzales Staff in Attendance: Troy Gay, Chief of Staff, Austin Police Department Rob Vires, Chief of Staff, Austin Fire Department Jasper Brown, Chief of Staff, Austin Travis County Emergency Medical Services Citizens signed up to speak on agenda items only:  Sue Gabriel – with Communities of Color United- spoke on item #4 – Austin Police Department Budget Review and Recommendation-Council Initiatives and other Budget Items Under Review  Carey Roberts – with Greater Austin Crime Commission – spoke on item #4 in support of police staffing plan and funding needed 1. APPROVAL OF MINUTES - Commissioner Hollis informed the board the May 4, 2020 meeting minutes would be voted on at the June 1, 2020 Public Safety Commission meeting. There was no objection from any of the members. 1  2. Austin Fire Department Budget Review and Recommendations Sponsored by Commissioners Hollis and Hausenfluck - Discussion of Overtime to cover Operations backfill - Discussion of Adding a third Cadet class - Discussion of Maintenance for Records Management Software - Discussion of and Vote on Recommendation for AFD Budget Commissioner Webber moved to approve the recommendation #20200518-002 and Commissioner Hausenfluck seconded the motion. Vote (Roll Call) Unanimous (Commissioners Hollis, Harris, Nunez, Webber, Hausenfluck, Alvarenga, Bernhardt and Kelly) Absent: Commissioner Rebecca Gonzales Abstain: 0 PUBLIC SAFETY COMMISSION RECOMMENDATION 20200518-002 May 18, 2020 Recommendation that Council Approve Austin Fire Department Budget Date: Subject: Requests Motioned by: Rebecca Webber Seconded by: Kathleen Hausenfluck Recommendation: The Public Safety Commission recommends that the Austin Fire Department budget should include: (1) overtime to cover Operations backfill, (2) adding a third Cadet class, and (3) funds for maintenance of the Records Management Software. Description of Recommendation to Council: The Austin Public Safety Commission is tasked with reviewing public safety agency budgets and providing recommendations to the Austin City Council. The Austin Fire Department provided backup materials and a briefing in the March 2020 Public Safety Commission on budget requests. The Public Safety Commission found that the Records Management Software for Austin Fire Department requires maintenance at this time. The Public Safety Commission found that a third Cadet class is needed to attain necessary staffing levels. The Public Safety Commission found that the Austin Fire Department needs additional overtime budget allocations to address staffing challenges. 2  Therefore, The Public Safety Commission recommends that the Austin Fire Department includes the following items in the budget submitted to the Austin City Council: 1. $3.8 million for overtime to address Operations backfill. 2. $818,000 to add a third Cadet training class. 3. $225,000 for maintenance of the Austin Fire Department Records Management Software. 4. $1.6 million to add staffing for additional aerial apparatus. This recommendation was made and approved by City Council for the FY20 budget. This item needs to be added back to the FY21 budget. The Public Safety Commission also recommends that the Austin City Council funds these items in the budget. Rationale: The Public Safety Commission has reviewed the requests from the Austin Fire Department for additions to the budget for the three items outlined above in the March, May, and May Special Called meetings of the Public Safety Commission. The additional staffing for the additional aerial apparatus was approved in the FY20 budget. Funding of this item was delayed multiple times and is no longer included in the budget. The Public Safety Commission is recommending that this funding is incorporated in the FY21 budget. This recommendation was made and approved by City Council for the FY20 budget. Vote: For: Meghan Hollis Rebecca Webber William (Bill) Kelly Rebecca Bernhardt Chris Harris Kathleen Hausenfluck Daniela Nunez Selena Alvarenga Against: Abstain: Absent: Rebecca Gonzales Attest: [Staff or board member can sign] __________________________________ 3  3. ATCEMS (Austin/Travis County Emergency Medical Services) Budget Review and Sponsored by Commissioners Hollis and Hausenfluck Recommendations 3:40pm-3:55pm Discussion of Analysis of Overtime with Corporate Budget Discussion of Phase II of Meadows Foundation Discussion of Warehouse and Inventory Control to support asset inventory and controlled medication program Discussion of Billing Personnel and Software Upgrade Discussion of Finance Team Support Supervisor Discussion of and Vote on Recommendation for ATCEMS Budget Chair Hollis introduced this item and referenced the recommendation she forwarded the board prior to the meeting. arly to the board members. Hollis reminded the board that they had also received an amendment to her recommendation from Commissioner Webber. Webber’s amendment included adding dollar amounts and an additional 2,348,000. Commissioner Webber explained how she came up with additional dollars in amending the recommendation. Webber motioned for a vote on her recommendation and Commissioner Nunez seconded. There was a call for discussion by the Chair and there were comments from Commissioner Alvarenga and Selena Xie, President of Emergency Medical Services Employees Union. Hearing no further discussions Commissioner Hollis called for the vote. PUBLIC SAFETY COMMISSION RECOMMENDATION 20200518-003 May 18, 2020 Date: Subject: Recommendation that Council Approve ATCEMS Budget Requests Motioned by: Webber Seconded by: Nunez Recommendation: The Public Safety Commission recommends that the ATCEMS budget should include funding for: (1) an analysis of overtime with the corporate budget, (2) Phase II of the Meadows Foundation, (3) Warehouse and Inventory Control to support asset inventory and controlled medication program, (4) billing personnel and software upgrades, (5) an additional finance team support supervisor (6) six additional clinical specialist positions to permanently staff the Paramedic Consult Line, (7) twelve additional FTEs so that Demand 1 and Demand 3 can be converted to 24-hour ambulances, and (8) twenty-four additional FTEs and two ambulances to better staff Medic 1 and Medic 5. 4  Description of Recommendation to Council: The Austin Public Safety Commission is tasked with reviewing public safety agency budgets and providing recommendations to the Austin City Council. The ATCEMS provided backup materials and a briefing in the March 2020 Public Safety Commission on budget requests. The Public Safety Commission found that there are five initiatives that Commissioners feel should be funded. Therefore, The Public Safety Commission recommends that ATCEMS includes the following items in the budget submitted to the Austin City Council: 1. $TBD for analysis of overtime with the corporate budget. 2. $642,200 to fund Phase II of the Meadows Foundation study. 3. $150,500 for warehouse and inventory control to support asset inventory and controlled medication program. 4. $146,000 for billing personnel and software upgrades. 5. $109,500 for a finance team support supervisor. 6. $244,000 for 6 new sworn FTEs to staff Paramedic Consult Line. 7. $488,000 for 12 new sworn FTEs to staff conversion of two demand trucks to 24-hour. 8. $1,616,000 for 2 ambulances ($640,000) and 24 new FTEs to staff them ($976,000) The Public Safety Commission also recommends that the Austin City Council funds these items in the budget. Rationale: The Public Safety Commission has reviewed the requests from ATCEMS for additions to the budget for the seven items outlined above in the March, May, and May Special Called meetings of the Public Safety Commission. ATCEMS has kept this community safe during this COVID-19 crisis. And they have done so while putting their own lives at risk. This pandemic has entirely changed the way ATCEMS operates from adjusting the workflow of each medical call all the way down to requiring each medic to have a second pair of “station” shoes so that shoes worn on calls can be left in the ambulance bay. COVID-19 has changed medics’ duties at their stations. For example: disinfecting the station and ambulance at the beginning and end of each shift is a lot of extra work. COVID-19 also means that our medic must take additional precautions donning and doffing PPE. After COVID-19 calls, medics must decontaminate the ambulance and equipment, and sometimes shower and change uniforms. This makes it more necessary than ever to add trucks and more medics. ATCEMS medics have taken on tremendous extra duties to keep this community with a low prevalence of COVID-19. The new Paramedic Consult Line provides extended triage to people with COVID-19 symptoms. This extended triage line, to this date, have taken over 4,000 possible COVID-19 calls, including advising individual medics regarding difficult PPE decisions. Additionally, over 1,000 patients have taken the option to not go to the hospital because of advice received through the Line. By keeping stable people out of the hospital, the Paramedic Consult Line prevents Austinites from getting COVID-19 at the ER or from exposing others to it in the ER. 5  Moreover, ATCEMS Special Operations is the central Texas region’s Infectious Disease Response Unit (EMTF 7 IDRU). ATCEMS personnel have swabbed entire nursing homes all over central Texas and have assisted in swabbing construction site workers. We must fund and continue this extremely valuable work. Paramedic Consult Line the Paramedic Consult Line is effective in diverting ambulances from the hospital. These positions do not have funding in next year’s budget. These positions should be permanently funded. Convert two Demand truck to 24-hour trucks Demand 1 and Demand 3 handle high call volumes and assist downtown. After the bars open back up, that we will see additional call volume downtown, and more community spread among our folks experiencing homelessness. Drug overdoses have been higher in our unhoused population as changes from COVID-19 have triggered mental health emergencies and decreased the level of services for those experiencing homelessness. In addition, ATCEMS is currently the only 911 agency carrying narcan and we need to make our medics available rapidly to provide for those overdosing. Two more 24-hour trucks will help handle the downtown calls. +1 ambulances at Medic 1 and Medic 5 Two high-volume stations have extra bays that can house an additional ambulance. M1 and M5 are both adjacent to our larger concentrations of Hispanic Austinites (who are disproportionality impacted by COVID-19 in our community) in Dove Springs and along the Rundberg corridor. Vote: For: Meghan Hollis Rebecca Webber William (Bill) Kelly Rebecca Bernhardt Chris Harris Kathleen Hausenfluck Daniela Nunez Selena Alvarenga Against: Abstain: Absent: Rebecca Gonzales Attest: __________________________________ [Staff or board member can sign] 6  4. Austin Police Department Budget Review and Recommendations – Council Initiatives and Other Budget Items Under Review 3:55-4:10 pm Sponsored by Commissioners Hollis and Hausenfluck - Discussion of Addressing Violent Crime in Austin - Discussion of Cadet Salary Increase - Discussion of Addition of 4 Civilian FTEs - Discussion of Records Management System Replacement - Discussion of Helicopter Replacement - Discussion of and Vote on Recommendation for Council Initiatives and Other Budget Items Under Review portion of APD Budget Commissioner Hollis introduced this item and asked for discussion Commissioner Hausenfluck motioned to vote on original recommendation and Commissioner Hollis seconded, and asked for discussion. Commissioner Harris and Webber commented they would not vote for an increase to the APD budget; however, Webber shared she would support the replacement of APD’s Records Management system for 1.5 million. Commissioner Kelly asked APD Chief of Staff, Troy Gay to provide some justification on the five lines items recommended for Austin Police Department. Michelle Schmidt with APD’s Financial Office provided the additional justification for each item. Commissioner Bernhardt expressed her opposition to the cadet increase and commented she supported the increase in 2019 when the market study was done and Commissioner Webber reminded the board that last year the Public Safety Commission recommended to Council an increase in cadet pay. Commissioner Kelly reminded the board that they do not have any control over where the money goes if we do not vote for funding to APD programs. He did not think the role of the Public Safety Commission was to punish the police by not supporting funding for the police department. Ken Casaday, President of Austin Police Association expressed how disappointed he was in the board in not supporting items/programs need by the police department. Commissioner Hollis motioned the recommendation be revised to separate recommendations and vote on items 1-5 as separate recommendations under #4 agenda item. Commissioner Kelly seconded motion. Vote called for Line #1 Addressing Violent Crime in Austin For: Commissioner Kelly Against: Commissioners Webber, Hausenfluck, Nunez, Alvarenga, Bernhardt and Harris Abstain: Commissioner Hollis Absent: Commissioner Gonzales Item failed/not recommended Vote called for Line #2 Cadet Salary Increase For: Commissioner Kelly and Hausenfluck Against: Commissioner Webber, Bernhardt, Nunez, Harris and Alvarenga Abstain: Commissioner Hollis Absent: Commissioner Gonzales Item failed 7  Vote called for Line item #3 Addition of four Full Time Civilian Employees For: Commissioner Hollis, Kelly, Hausenfluck and Alvarenga Against: Commissioner Bernhardt, Webber, Harris, and Nunez Abstain: zero Absent: Commissioner Gonzales Split vote item did not pass Vote called for Line item #4 Update Records Management System For: Commissioners Hollis, Webber, Hausenfluck, Nunez, Bernhardt, Kelly and Alvarenga Against: zero Abstain: Commissioner Harris Absent: Commissioner Gonzales Item passes (see recommendation sent to council below) Vote called for Line item #5 Replacement Helicopter For: Commissioner Hollis and Kelly Against: Commissioners Webber, Harris, Hausenfluck, Nunez, Alvarenga and Bernhardt Abstain: zero Absent: Commissioner Gonzales Item failed PUBLIC SAFETY COMMISSION RECOMMENDATION 20200518-004 Part 4 May 18, 2020 Recommendation that Council Approves $1.5 million to replace the current Records Date: Subject: Management System at the Austin Police Department Motioned by: Meghan Hollis – Motion was to vote individually on each of the five budget requests; therefore, each individual vote will be presented as a separate recommendation under this motion. Seconded by: Selena Alvarenga Recommendation: The Public Safety Commission recommends that the Austin Police Department budget should include funding to replace the existing Records Management System and that Council should approve this funding. Description of Recommendation to Council: The Austin Public Safety Commission is tasked with reviewing public safety agency budgets and providing recommendations to the Austin City Council. The Austin Police Department provided backup materials and a briefing in the March 2020 Public 8  Safety Commission on budget requests. The Public Safety Commission recommends that the Austin Police Department include the $1.5 million for replacing the current Records Management System (RMS) in their current budget and that Council funds this budget item. Rationale: The Public Safety Commission has reviewed the requests from the Austin Police Department for additions to the budget for the item above in the March, May, and May Special Called meetings of the Public Safety Commission. The Austin Police Department is requesting $1.5 million to replace the current Records Management System which is 15 years old. The technology with this system is antiquated and results in excessive time spent on officer report writing, as well as, system maintenance down-time. Commissioners find that a new records management system will aid in records retention improvements, and will make it easier to extract data and link data across datasets for better and more timely data analysis. This will allow improvements in APD’s capacity to make data-driven decisions. Vote: For: Meghan Hollis Rebecca Webber William (Bill) Kelly Rebecca Bernhardt Kathleen Hausenfluck Daniela Nunez Selena Alvarenga Against: Abstain: Chris Harris Absent: Rebecca Gonzales Attest: [Staff or board member can sign] __________________________________ 9  5. Public Safety Departments Budget Personnel Increase Review and Recommendations 4:10pm-4:25pm Sponsored by Commissioners Hollis and Hausenfluck - Discussion of addition of 30 FTEs to be added to APD budget - Discussion of additional FTEs for AFD budget - Discussion of additional FTEs to ATCEMS budget - Discussion of and Vote on Recommendation for addition of FTEs to agency budgets Commissioner Hollis introduced this item on the Public Safety base budget and opened the floor for discussion/questions. Commissioners Webber, Alvarenga and Nunez had questions on the 30 Fulltime Employees in the Austin Police Department base budget and Commissioner Nunez asked to remove the allocation of the 30FTE’s in APD’s base budget. Commissioner Kelly asked to vote on the base budget items separately. The item passed with the language change of removing the 30 FTEs for Austin Police Department from the recommendation below and the subsequent recommendations on Austin Fire Department and Austin/Travis County Emergency Medical Services. the recommendation. Please see PUBLIC SAFETY COMMISSION RECOMMENDATION 20200518-005 Part 1 May 18, 2020 Recommendation that Council Approve the Austin Police Department Base Budget Date: Subject: less the 30 new FTEs Motioned by: Kathleen Hausenfluck Seconded by: Rebecca Webber Recommendation: The Public Safety Commission recommends that the Austin City Council approve the Austin Police Department base budget less the 30 additional FTEs. Description of Recommendation to Council: The Austin Public Safety Commission is tasked with reviewing public safety agency budgets and providing recommendations to the Austin City Council. The Austin Police Department provided backup materials and a briefing in the March 2020 Public Safety Commission on budget requests. The Public Safety Commission found that the base budget should be approved less the 30 additional FTEs for the FY. 10  The Public Safety Commission also recommends that the Austin City Council consider these recommendations in the budget. Rationale: The Public Safety Commission has reviewed the requests from the Austin Police Department for the base budget and recommends that Council fund the budget less the 30 new FTEs. The Public Safety Commission recommends that the allocation for 30 additional FTEs for officers in the Austin Police Department is not funded. The Public Safety Commission has concerns with the current Austin Police Department budget proposal. The Austin Police Department reported that they had 162 vacancies at the May 4, 2020 Public Safety Commission meeting. Additionally, the Austin Police Department reports that the attrition rate has increased recently. The Public Safety Commission recommends that existing staffing challenges and vacancies need to be addressed before additional positions are allocated to the Police Department. Vote: For: Rebecca Webber Rebecca Bernhardt Kathleen Hausenfluck Daniela Nunez Selena Alvarenga Against: William (Bill) Kelly Abstain: Meghan Hollis Chris Harris Absent: Rebecca Gonzales Attest: [Staff or board member can sign] __________________________________ 11  PUBLIC SAFETY COMMISSION RECOMMENDATION 20200518-005 – Part 2 May 18, 2020 Recommendation that Council Approve the Austin Fire Department Base Budget Date: Subject: Motioned by: Rebecca Webber Seconded by: William (Bill) Kelly Recommendation: The Public Safety Commission recommends that the Austin City Council approve the Austin Fire Department budget including the additional FTEs from Recommendation 20200518-002 in the budget. Description of Recommendation to Council: The Austin Public Safety Commission is tasked with reviewing public safety agency budgets and providing recommendations to the Austin City Council. The Austin Fire Department provided backup materials and a briefing in the March 2020 Public Safety Commission on budget requests. The Public Safety Commission found that the base budget should be approved with the additions from Recommendation 20200518-002. The Public Safety Commission also recommends that the Austin City Council consider these recommendations in the budget. Rationale: The Public Safety Commission has reviewed the requests from the Austin Fire Department for the base budget and recommends full funding. It has been a long time since the Austin Fire Department last added an aerial apparatus. This item was approved in the FY20 budget but was not implemented in that budget or included in the FY21 budget. The cost for this item is $1.6 million. We are recommending that this item is incorporated into the FY21 budget for the Austin Fire Department in accordance with Recommendation 20200518-002. Vote: For: Meghan Hollis Rebecca Webber William (Bill) Kelly 12  Rebecca Bernhardt Chris Harris Kathleen Hausenfluck Daniela Nunez Selena Alvarenga Against: Abstain: Absent: Rebecca Gonzales PUBLIC SAFETY COMMISSION RECOMMENDATION 20200518-005 -3 May 18, 2020 Recommendation that Council Approve the ATCEMS Base Budget Date: Subject: Motioned by: Rebecca Webber Seconded by: William (Bill) Kelly Recommendation: The Public Safety Commission recommends that the Austin City Council approve the ATCEMS budget including the additional FTEs from Recommendation 20200518-003 in the budget. Description of Recommendation to Council: The Austin Public Safety Commission is tasked with reviewing public safety agency budgets and providing recommendations to the Austin City Council. ATCEMS provided backup materials and a briefing in the March 2020 Public Safety Commission on budget requests. The Public Safety Commission found that the base budget should be approved with the additions from Recommendation 20200518-003. The Public Safety Commission also recommends that the Austin City Council consider these recommendations in the budget. Rationale: The Public Safety Commission has reviewed the requests from the ATCEMSfor the base budget and recommends full funding. 13  Vote: For: Meghan Hollis Rebecca Webber William (Bill) Kelly Rebecca Bernhardt Chris Harris Kathleen Hausenfluck Daniela Nunez Selena Alvarenga Against: zero Abstain: Absent: Rebecca Gonzales Attest: [Staff or board member can sign] __________________________________ 5. FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS - Quatron Audit Update - 911 Call analysis/data (Harris) - Dispatch Equity Study (Webber) ADJOURNMENT: at 4:33pm motion to adjourn Commissioner Nunez and Commissioner Harris seconded 14  15