February 14, 2022 minutes — original pdf

Approved Minutes

Tourism Commission February 14, 2022 - 3 pm Hybrid via Video Conferencing and City Hall Board and Commissions Room 1101 301 W. Second St. Austin, Texas 78701 MINUTES In Attendance: Alta Alexander Greg Chanon Ed Bailey Rachel Magee Bill Bunch Ken Smith John Riedie Lois Rodriguez Mike Cannatti Staff and Other In Attendance: Felicia Ojeda, Austin Convention Center Department, Staff liaison Laura Templeton, Commissioner of the Downtown Commission Anne-Charlotte Patterson, Chair of the Music Commission AGENDA 1. CALL MEETING TO ORDER a. Meeting called to order at 3:03 pm by Vice Chair, Rachel Magee 2. PUBLIC COMMUNICATIONS: a. No Public Communications 3. APPROVAL OF MINUTES a. Approval of the March 8, 2021, minutes. i. Commissioner Rodriguez moved to approve the March 8, 2021, minutes, seconded by Commissioner Smith ii. All commissioners approved the March 8, 2021 minutes. (Commissioners Alexander, Chanon, Bailey, Magee, Bunch, Smith, Riedie, Rodriguez, and Cannatti) b. Approval of the May 10, 2021, minutes with the correction of Agenda Item 4c. section 3 i. Chair Whitington moved for Recommends that Council to consider and direct staff to consider that these identified uses as possibly possible projects and priorities when considering the annual allocations of Hotel Occupancy Taxes. Second from Commissioner Bailey. All commissioners voted in favor of the motion. (Commissioners Whitington, Magee, Bailey, Smith, Cannatti, Bunch and Riedie). ii. Commissioner Cannatti motioned to approve the May 10, 2021, minutes, with the approved corrections and seconded by Commissioner Riedie. iii. All commissioners approved the corrected May 10, 2021, minutes. (Commissioners Alexander, Chanon, Bailey, Magee, Bunch, Smith, Riedie, Rodriguez, and Cannatti) 4. NEW BUSINESS The Commission discussed the following agenda item: a. Introduced the new Board member, Commissioner Greg Chanon, District 2 b. Deliberated and decided to postpone setting the meeting schedule for 2022 i. Commissioner Rodriguez motioned to postpone Agenda item 2b. setting the meeting schedule for 2022 until the next meeting, seconded by Commissioner Smith. • Approved and adopted by Commissioners Alexander, Chanon, Bailey, Magee, Bunch, Smith, Riedie, Rodriguez, and Cannatti. ii. Commissioners did discuss setting the March 2022 meeting date. • Commissioner Smith moved to meet March 14, 2022, seconded by Commissioner Rodriguez • Commissioners voted against meeting March 14, 2022 (Commissioners Alexander, Chanon, Bailey, Magee, Bunch, Smith, Riedie, Rodriguez, and Cannatti) • Commissioner Bunch moved to meet March 21, 2022, from 3pm- 5pm, seconded by Commissioner Riedie • Approved and adopted by Commissioners Alexander, Chanon, Bailey, Bunch, Smith, Riedie, Rodriguez, and Cannatti. Abstained by Vice Chair Magee c. Discussed and updated appointed members of the Parks and Environment Working Group i. Commissioner Cannatti discussed reengaging the working group on the additional scope of topics originally assigned to the working group. ii. Commissioner Cannatti updated the board on the new appointed members of the working group • Adrienne Longenecker, Colorado River Alliance • Clark Hancock, Save Barton Creek Association • Heidi Anderson, Trail Foundation • Health Riddles-Sanchez, Pease Park Conservancy • Ted Siff, Shoal Creek Conservancy • Commissioners Bunch, Cannatti, and Smith iii. Commissioner Cannatti moved to approve the new appointed members of the Parks and Environment Working Group by the Tourism Commission Board members, seconded by Commissioner Rodriguez iv. Approved and adopted by Commissioners Alexander, Chanon, Bailey, Magee, Bunch, Smith, Riedie, Rodriguez, and Cannatti. d. Read an update from the Austin Convention Center staff on expansion contracted underway and discussed to request a presentation from the Austin Convention Center staff at the next meeting on the redevelopment and expansion project including an update of the financing of the project. i. Commissioner Rodriguez moved to request the Austin Convention Center to present at the March 21, 2022, meeting on the redevelopment and expansion project and to include an update of the finance reports of the project, seconded by Commissioner Riedie. ii. Approved and adopted by Commissioners Chanon, Bailey, Magee, Bunch, Smith, Riedie, Rodriguez, and Cannatti. Abstained by Commissioner Alexander e. Discussion and possible action on the previously created TPID working group i. Commissioner Riedie request to reengage the working group and reappoint the current commissioners of the working group • Commissioners Magee, Rodriguez, and Riedie were reappointed without objections objections • Appointed Commissioner Chanon to the working group without • Commissioner Chanon, Magee, Riedie, and Rodriguez discussed whom to invite to join the working group and return with a list of new members for the TPID working group. ii. Discussed the purpose and uses of the TPID to Austin area f. Reports from the Downtown Commission and Music Commission related to the convention center expansion plans. i. Commissioner Laura Templeton of the Downtown Commission ii. Commissioner Anne-Charlotte Patterson of the Music Commission g. Discussed and set agenda items for subsequent meetings, including recurring items, and make information requests to staff in support of those items. i. Commissioner Riedie request to receive a recurring monthly report of the Hotel Occupancy Taxes collection in effort to establish how the overall tourism economy is doing. ii. Commissioner Cannatti request to address additional appointees to working groups of TPID and Parks and Environment and update reports from the working groups iii. Commissioner Rodriguez mentioned the setting the meeting schedules for 2022 and a presentation from the Austin Convention Center iv. Commissioner Bailey requested to receive an update report from the Heritage Preservation Division of rewarding of grants or what funds have been disbursed from the Hotel Occupancy Taxes collection for Historic Preservation v. Commissioner Bunch requested that the board receives an update on the Hotel Occupancy Taxes report and how is it currently being disbursed vi. Commissioner Cannatti requested to address the Bylaws Article 2 Section B of the seven charges to review and address in discussion format in every meeting possible. vii. Commissioner Bailey addressed how the board can start monitoring how the hospitality workers are being impacted in the current economic state • Commissioner Smith suggested to request the Austin Hotel & Lodging Association (AHLA) president, Denise Eisman, to share insights on hospitality industry and current metrics • Vice Chair Magee suggested that we extended the monitoring of hospitality workers and those that work in live events. Including Arts organizations also impacted by the current economic state. h. Election of a Presiding Officer i. Commissioner Rodriguez moved to postpone this agenda item until the next meeting and seconded by Commissioner Smith ii. Vice Chair Magee agreed to stay as Vice Chair and continue to lead the board meetings. 5. FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS The Commission may discuss and identify future agenda items, topics, or presentations. 6. ADJOURNMENT a. Vice Chair Magee adjourn the meeting at 4:50 pm. The City of Austin is committed to compliance with the American with Disabilities Act. Reasonable modifications and equal access to communications will be provided upon request. Meeting locations are planned with wheelchair access. If requiring Sign Language Interpreters or alternative formats, please give notice at least 2 days (48 hours) before the meeting date. Please call or email Felicia Ojeda 512.404.4022, felicia.ojeda@austintexas.gov. for additional information; TTY users route through Relay Texas at 711. For more information on the Tourism Commission, please contact Felicia Ojeda at 512.404.4022, felicia.ojeda@austintexas.gov. Department, Convention Austin Center the at at