Wednesday, July 16, 2025, 9:30 a.m. (Austin time), Austin City Hall, 301 W 2nd St, Austin, TX 78701
Committee: Audit and Finance Committee
0:03 It's nine 30 in the morning on July 16th, 2025.
0:07 And I will now call to order the audit and finance committee of the Austin City Council for
0:13 a regular meeting of the audit and finance committee.
0:15 It is, as I've indicated, Wednesday, July 16th, 2025.
0:19 We have a quorum of the audit and finance committee present in the City Council chambers located at
0:25 City Hall at 3 0 1 west second street in Austin, texas.
0:29 Uh, the members, the way we will go is we will start with public communication, and I'm gonna
0:34 ask mr. Cobb if he'll make his way to the podium.
0:36 While he's doing that.
0:38 Uh, we will then go to, uh, the items in the order that they're listed on your, on
0:42 your agenda. And, um, so just be prepared for that.
0:47 Mr. Cobb. Uh, let me recognize you.
0:49 State your name for the record and you recognize, uh, my name is scott cobb.
0:52 Um, I work for the city of Austin, and I'm here to talk about a report that y'all
0:57 heard my six weeks or a couple months ago called the city does not manage all discrimination, harassment,
1:05 and retaliation complaints effectively or consistently.
1:10 And, uh, it goes on in the report to say that until these issues are addressed, employees cannot
1:16 trust that the city will reserve, will resolve their concerns.
1:22 And I don't think they have been peripherally addressed.
1:25 I can't talk about the whole thing in my three minute times, but I hope to be able
1:30 to meet with you in your office.
1:32 I have spoken with susan sins and, uh, susanna carbo.
1:40 We know, it took me over an hour to explain to them I saw her.
1:44 I thought I saw her minute.
1:45 Oh, she was back in the back.
1:46 Yeah. So, um, anyhow, there, there are some of the things mentioned in the report that specifically or
1:55 directly related to the issues we've been raising about sexual harassment, such as the lack of interviews of,
2:03 uh, potential witnesses, uh, lack of interviews of people who file complaints, uh, lack of closeout meetings.
2:13 I know not all the complaints have to do with harassment.
2:17 Retaliation. I know I personally filed a complaint during covid about the rules not being effectively enforced or
2:25 followed by our management team resulting in me getting co at work, to which I ended up taking
2:33 various medications that I still have to take.
2:37 But I was never interviewed, no witnesses were ever interviewed.
2:42 All they had to do was go to barton springs and ask any lifeguard who around here is
2:48 not following the, the rules of the city.
2:51 And they would've easily said who it was.
2:54 But because they did not, uh, conduct any interviews, they didn't interview me and the other witnesses, they
3:01 found no substantiation. Now it's even more tragic when it's a case about sexual harassment.
3:09 There is a case with two people named in, uh, or sexual harassment complaint.
3:16 And the hr investigator said, well, in the actual report, they didn't interview the either of those two
3:23 potential victims or the, but in the report, they, they said, well, we looked at the files of
3:30 the two people who said, they said, were, did this, and there have been no complaints, and there
3:38 files about this, therefore, we are not going, we did not interview them about this complaint.
3:44 I don't know. That's really absurd.
3:46 I think there should be definitely a lot more training done by hr about how to conduct investigations.
3:57 Thank you for being here, mr. Cobb.
3:59 Uh, and for your interest, um, members, those are that mr. Cobb is the only one that signed up
4:04 for public comment. Um, so we will go to item number one, which is the approval of the
4:11 minutes of the May 19th, 2025 special call to audit and finance committee meeting, uh, Council Member Alter moves, approval
4:18 of the minutes, seconded by Council Member Vela.
4:21 Uh, is there any discussion without objection?
4:23 Item number one is adopted.
4:25 The minutes are approved.
4:26 That will take us to briefings.
4:27 The first briefing is, uh, with regard is item number two, and that's, um, generally referred to as
4:35 the draft sunset review process, and update.
4:43 Good morning. I'm stephanie hall, assistant city clerk, and we are here to provide an update on the previous
4:49 report that we provided to the committee back in February.
4:52 Just as a quick recap of where things stand, oh, let me just go to the first page
4:57 there. We just wanna do a quick review of that for the first directive in that resolution.
5:02 This is the resolution that was passed gladly last year regarding the boards and commissions.
5:06 We did reach out early January before we came in February and notified the boards that really saw
5:11 on the appendix. We ran a survey that was something that we completed.
5:14 Uh, number two is actually kind of our goal today as part of the developing process.
5:18 We wanna bring back an update and outline and updated framework.
5:21 Uh, the third point is also pending in process, but we have an ordinance that's drafted and we'll
5:27 be posted for an upcoming council meeting.
5:28 That is to kind of identify and codify the process for appointing council members to other bodies and
5:35 intergovernmental bodies. The fourth point was to develop a website that hosted all the boards and commissions recommendations.
5:42 We've completed that, and it actually went through some additional enhancements recently as we did an upgrade for
5:47 all of our public search.
5:48 And then finally, there was a translation services piece that is services that we already do provide to
5:53 boards and commissions, but there is an updated guidance of, um, providing language access that will be going
5:59 out, that includes more details about boards and commissions that will be going out later this month.
6:04 The main thing we wanted to bring today was a refined and proposed framework so that we can
6:09 start moving on a review process.
6:11 So we'd like to outline those steps for you and get your feedback.
6:15 The first step in our framework would, of course, be to identify the boards and commissions that we
6:19 would be putting through this view.
6:21 And as part of that first step, we wanna identify are they considered active or not.
6:25 And to do that, we already have some information in city code to give us perspective.
6:29 So we would look at these bodies to determine are they meeting the requirements in their bylaws for
6:33 meetings, which is usually monthly.
6:35 Next, are they meeting the requirements in code, which is quarterly.
6:38 And then there's also an additional requirement in code that they have to meet for six months.
6:42 So we would make sure before we start reviewing those, if they're considered active or inactive based on
6:47 this criteria already outlined.
6:50 The second step we would move forward with those is we would take a legal review at those
6:54 bodies that have been identified, and do they meet any, do they have specific requirements that meet statutory
7:00 rules or any other, any other maintains rules of law so that we can have a quick overview
7:04 of what we are required to keep, what we have to maintain, what's regulated by the state, or
7:08 what's regulated by federal requirements.
7:12 The next step, we would jump into an evaluation of each board and commission.
7:16 This step is to kind of build off something that actually already exists.
7:19 It's required in code for every board and commission called the annual review and report.
7:23 It's something they have to complete annually.
7:25 So we're bouncing off of that and building it up a little bit more.
7:28 And our idea would be to expand the, the scope of the annual report a little bit and
7:33 include some additional questions about how they feel members are engaged, how they feel communities engaged, provide a
7:39 little bit more details.
7:39 But the core of that report is, are the actions that have been conducted throughout the year in
7:44 compliance or in interactive with their mandates.
7:47 And then to outline what those recommendations would be.
7:50 And to kind of clarify if they are in furtherance of those directive, we did come up with
7:56 like a sample survey of how we think this form could look like and work.
7:59 And that is also the backup for your reference.
8:01 In addition to having the boards and commissions that are under review, complete this, we also think it's
8:05 beneficial to have the staff that is staffing those commissions to take a look at it.
8:10 So they would also be asked to fill out the very similar form and give their perspective and
8:15 insights on these, on these assessment questions.
8:20 After we have that view of the self-evaluation.
8:22 The next step in the process is, of course, we, we value the feedback from the public and
8:28 the stakeholders and to come up with a plan for this.
8:30 Instead of using a survey, we thought what might be more beneficial and helpful is for the boards
8:35 and commissions that are under this review process to have an item on and a upcoming agenda where
8:40 they have time to ask the public to come in and give feedback to how they feel the
8:45 border commission is doing.
8:46 These are just some potential assessment questions.
8:48 How do stakeholders view it?
8:51 Are there concerns the public has?
8:52 But we would work with law to have a posting language, so there was a, an opportunity or
8:56 some kind of public feedback or forum at a board of commission meeting for them to collect this
9:01 information from the public or stakeholders.
9:06 And then for the next step, I'm actually gonna turn over to jeff.
9:10 Okay.
9:15 Thanks stephanie. Um, and good morning, mary and City Council members.
9:18 My name is jess ferrari, assistant to the city manager, and I've been supporting with the response to
9:23 this resolution since your last update in February.
9:26 So stephanie just walked us through the first four steps of the framework, um, the data collection on
9:31 the board and commission in step one, the legal review in step two, the self-assessment, uh, from the
9:38 board and commission and staff, staff and executive liaisons in step three, and the public input in step
9:44 four. And so step five is really to compile this data into a condensed report where each section
9:50 of the report will be a section of the framework.
9:53 Um, and then an executive summary will be at the beginning of that report that highlights the main
9:59 data points, uh, from the data that was collected in the framework.
10:03 And the purpose of this report is really, uh, to serve as a tool to help you make
10:08 an initial recommendation on whether you want to continue the border commission as is recommend a restructuring of
10:15 the border commission, maybe changing its charge or merging it with another border commission, or ultimately deciding whether
10:22 you'd like to sunset that border commission.
10:24 The assessment questions that you see on your screen are just examples of the kinds of questions that
10:30 you might ask yourselves to come to that conclusion.
10:32 So does the border commission have a clearly defined mission that aligns with current city goals and priorities?
10:39 Are there any new or emerging needs that the border commission should address to remain relevant?
10:44 Could other boards or commissions take over the functions of this border commission?
10:49 Are city resources being used efficiently to support this body and will sunsetting this board or commission impact
10:55 the community? And so once you review the report and analyze the findings, we're hoping that this committee
11:03 will make an initial recommendation to either continue, restructure, or sunset that board and commission.
11:10 And of course, that initial recommendation will go to the full City Council for discussion and action.
11:16 And in essence, that's the proposed framework.
11:18 So since it was initially proposed to you in February, we've gone through some changes.
11:24 We've condensed it a little bit to make it a more tangible framework that's collecting the kind of
11:28 data that you need to make an informed decision about how to move forward with that board or
11:33 commission on any given year.
11:35 And so what do our next steps look like from here?
11:38 Well, first of all, we want your feedback on this framework.
11:42 Do you think that it would collect the kind of data that you would need to make that
11:46 initial recommendation? And if not, what do you feel like is missing?
11:50 These are your, your boards and commissions, right?
11:53 They give you policy recommendations.
11:55 They help you stay connected with your community.
11:57 And so in the evaluation process, we wanna make sure that we would be collecting the kind of
12:02 data that you would need to make an informed decision.