Remarks by Ernest Sumrall
141 remarks on the record, newest first · Page 5 of 6
- Play at 3:32:10
“So, you know, just it has an effect on people. Are they willing to let us run a pilot just to see what kind of information they're going to provide?”
City Council · Aug 5, 2026
- Play at 3:32:40
“So you're saying we already have access to our neighborhood or our city?”
City Council · Aug 5, 2026
- Play at 3:33:38
“I get that the data is already there. I'm asking, I mean, you've already answered the question. Me personally? Coming from that world I wouldn't be willing to entertain their offer unless they were willing to show us data on our on our city as in a pilot I understand front their position and understand what they think they're protecting but traffic patterns change throughout seasons if they're unwilling to share the product and Software companies do this all the time and data companies do this all the time. I personally I'm not interested in entertaining them understood”
City Council · Aug 5, 2026
- Play at 3:36:40
“So would they be using data we already possess and analyzing it to provide? Do you have a list of what it is they would be providing for the cost?”
City Council · Aug 5, 2026
- Play at 3:37:55
“What form would the product be that you receive as a result of the subscription?”
City Council · Aug 5, 2026
- Play at 3:38:12
“Yes. Do you have access right now? Subscription. No. Do you subscribe to it? Waterworks. You know, I'll look them up. I'm asking because if we already possess the data, I'm not trying to dissuade you from looking at these folks. This can be done in a few days with the current tools that we possess. Not Excel spreadsheets, but actual programming.”
City Council · Aug 5, 2026
- Play at 3:39:25
“Chris, tell me the top five things that this software would provide to you, and then what would you do with that?”
City Council · Aug 5, 2026
- Play at 3:39:39
“Are there specific things it would give you that would help you?”
City Council · Aug 5, 2026
- Play at 3:40:43
“So using predictive analytics to give you a forewarning of potential asset failure and shortfalls in revenue.”
City Council · Aug 5, 2026
- Play at 3:41:00
“So the current contract that we just approved that's going into effect, that has digital That has data that's already coming to us to let us know, like, if someone thinks they're only using 150 gallons a day, but then they're actually pumping 300 somewhere. We already have that, right?”
City Council · Aug 5, 2026
- Play at 3:41:29
“Don't sell yourself short. You're a dozen-man team.”
City Council · Aug 5, 2026
- Play at 3:42:14
“All right. And if I go to... Waterworth software, I can probably see examples of, and these are tailored to our city, right, would it be?”
City Council · Aug 5, 2026
- Play at 3:42:26
“Is it clearly out of the box or do we have our own?”
City Council · Aug 5, 2026
- Play at 3:42:50
“I'm not opposed to this. You said one thing that got my interest to just, it makes your job easier. Yeah. And you do a lot of work, and I appreciate that. So I'm just curious.”
City Council · Aug 5, 2026
- Play at 3:43:17
“So you have already identified, in your spreadsheet, you've already identified the things that you need versus the things that you want to receive after. So if you input data, you've already identified what you can input and what you want after.”
City Council · Aug 5, 2026
- Play at 3:57:22
“Is it unreasonable to wonder if there are other vendors? It seems like a large amount to just go straight with. I know we have a relationship with them, and I appreciate that. Do you have any idea what other vendors might charge for the same?”
City Council · Aug 5, 2026
- Play at 3:58:31
“Did Ricotta, did they bid? their own project to you, so you have a breakdown of what's going to happen, what it's going to cost, what it's going to cover?”
City Council · Aug 5, 2026
- Play at 3:59:04
“You said we've already decided on the concept. Have we already paid for it? I'm asking this because I don't know. If this is the one in the cloud, I mean, there are tons of cloud servers. And I'm not trying to get into your business, please understand. But this feels like a capital expenditure to me from the business side of things. I would love to see two other quotes.”
City Council · Aug 5, 2026
- Play at 3:59:34
“No, but there are plenty of cloud providers and plenty of companies that have their own cloud. And they should. And they should be also ISO 27001. We should be their minimum of their security. This is typical in a signature standard. Sure. It's a big purchase. And we're pinching pennies because we have a little bit of a, and we're talking about altering our reserve policies because we have a little bit of a challenge with our budget even if even if somebody else was 10 different that's 24 grand that could i don't know go somewhere i'm not saying i'm not saying we shouldn't use these guys i…”
City Council · Aug 5, 2026
- Play at 4:00:39
“Well, if we continue using their portal at $3,000 a year. If the greater project is $240,000, I'm not particularly personally worried about $3,000. I'm saying there are other security options, I think. In a city like Houston, there must be.”
City Council · Aug 5, 2026
- Play at 4:01:39
“Sure, and so we have... You were aware that they went through... So are we contractually obligated to them for... Oh, no, no.”
City Council · Aug 5, 2026
- Play at 4:02:30
“It sounds like we're buying a whole other system already.”
City Council · Aug 5, 2026
- Play at 4:02:41
“So we're adding cameras at a quarter million dollars to the existing service of three grand a year to servers that already exist to a company that we're comfortable with and already using.”
City Council · Aug 5, 2026
- Play at 4:03:52
“But we're gonna upgrade all those sites, not just here.”
City Council · Aug 5, 2026
- Play at 4:04:03
“We're gonna put Verkada cameras in this building. Now I understand. So the other sites already have the latest and greatest cameras? Yes, sir. And we're not upgrading any of those? No, sir. Different conversation, thank you very much. Correct.”
City Council · Aug 5, 2026