City Council - Regular Meeting

Okay. Um, today's Tuesday, February 17, 2026. It is 6:02. We'll go ahead and get our regular meeting in session. We're going to go ahead and start by opening prayer and pledge of allegiance to the flag of the United States and the state of Texas. Councilman uh Guerrero and best decisions for our city together is.

Amen. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Honor the Texas flag. I pledge allegiance to thee, Texas. One state under God, one and indivisible. Okay, if y'all bear with us, we going through some technical difficulties here. We'll go ahead and continue with special announcements. Uh the H how Bowwin scholarship students attending for the How Bowwin scholarship need to sign in on the sheet located in the back of the podium. If you are watching remotely, please email Sarah Gonzalez at sgonzalezshirturchs.com to virtually sign in. Please direct any questions to Miss Gonzalez. This time we're going to have [clears throat] two proclamations. One will be government communicators day and the second will be engineers appreciation week. Council member Watson.

Turn it off. It might be off. I think it's recording. It's just not amplified. Your voice.

Okay. Thank you guys so much for [applause] State of the City video. State of the City video. Thank you. test. Good. Okay. I have the honor to present the National Engineers Appreciation Week, February 22nd to February 28th. Whereas the theme for engineers week 2026 is transform your future. And whereas engineers use their scientific and technical knowledge and skills in creative and innovative ways to fulfill society's needs. And whereas engineers

face the major technological challenges of of our time from rebuilding towns devastated by natural uh natural disaster, cleaning up the environment and ensuring safe, clean and efficient sources of energy to designing information systems that will speed our country into the future. And whereas engineers are encouraging or encouraging, excuse me, our young math and science students to realize the practical power of their knowledge. And whereas we will look more than ever to engineers and their knowledge and skills to meet the challenges of the 21st century. So therefore, Ralph Rodriguez, mayor of city of Schz does hereby recognize and hereby proclaim February 22nd to the 28th, 2026 as National Engineers Week. [applause]

All right. Thank you, mayor and council, um, for this recognition and, uh, we appreciate the support that you give our department, um, as we try to, uh, transform shirts for the future. Thanks. And, and thanks to the great team we have in our department. [applause] Holy [ __ ]

[applause]

Okay, we'll go ahead and uh move on to employee recognition. Our city manager, Steve Williams. Thank you, mayor. We have a we do milestone recognitions for the city of Shirts, and we do this at your one-year anniversary, 5year, 10year, etc., etc., in five-year increments. when you get to 20 years or more, we I like to do it here in the council member acknowledge that person publicly for their dedication and their service and and and to really just highlight that and and exemplify that or show that how they exemplify that for our community and for our organization. So, we have someone who is receiving a 25th year service pin, Shelley Krauss. Come on up. [applause] Okay. So, we have a little PowerPoint presentation.

Oh, let's see here. So, but before we do that, there's a little thing I like to do. It's called what was happening in October of 2000 when Shelley started here. Well, it was the first season of the show Survivor. kind of kicked off, you know, the sparking the rise of reality TV. The Sony PlayStation 2 was released in North America. Did you go out and get one?

No. Okay. Had the introduction of the USB flash drive. Okay. Very convenient. Led to a lot of computer hacking, but you know, that was okay. It was a big thing. And then also the rise of Insync's Bye-bye bye. It was the anthem that dominated the airwaves. And I'm sure you were with your friends doing the dance

singing bye bye bye. But most importantly in 2025 I mean I'm sorry in October of 2000 Shellyley Krauss and joined the city of Shirts team. So we were so glad to have her. Tell you a little bit about Shelly. Oops. Sorry. Let's back up. Jelly Krauss. She was hired in December on December 2nd. No, October 2nd of 2000. She's in finance. That's why she corrected me. Started in the public works department as a receptionist/dispatcher and she was with the public works department from October of 2000 to March of 2009. She really enjoyed her time in there and became at that in at that time that public works department became your work family, right? So in March of 2009, she was transferred to the newly formed purchasing department as an administrative assistant. It was a new challenge for Shelley and it's also been very interesting learning the dos and don'ts of the purchasing for the city or at the time it was. The purchasing department was placed under the finance department under the former director Juan Santoya. And Juan approached Martha about being u I mean I'm sorry, approached Shelley about helping Martha with accounts payable. And in December 14, she was officially moved to the finance department as the administrative assistant. And it's been a pleasure for her to work in the finance department and she is always learning something new. So, a little bit of background on Shelly. She was born in Kory, Maine. And where where'd you go to high school?

And okay, that's right. I'll get That's right. [laughter] Got things out of order here. Her dad was in the Air Force. Family moved to Shirts in October of 1969, which is where her her dad eventually retired, and she has had the opportunity to see the city of Shirts grow over the years. Shel went to Schz Elementary, oh Henry Junior High, now known as Corbett, and Samuel Clemens. Go.

There you go, boss. She met her husband in November 1983. They got married in on April 19th of 1986. And she considers her greatest achievements her three wonderful children. Levi, who was born on October 1st of 91. Katie was born July 12th of 94. And Casey was born October 26 of 21. Are they all out there?

Oh, there you go. All right. Glad you all can make it. Levi works at Energy Transfer in Houston. He's been there seven years. Katie works in Austin with Travis County. Been there four years. and Casey is working in shirts for SEUISD in the HVAC maintenance department. Been there a year. She's very proud of the awesome adults y'all have become. So, growing up, Shelley always loved loud cars and trucks. Go. And Melvin, her husband, Melvin, wait. Okay. Introduced her to stock car. Introduced her to stock car racing. took her to her first race in spring of 1984 at the San Antonio Speedway. All the guys in his family raced cars. Melvin, his dad, his older brother. So, they're pretty much a stock car racing family. And their oldest son, Levi, started racing at 14 years old. Kelsey started at 15. Casey started at not Casey. Kelsey, Casey started at 15. And Shelley loves spending quality time with her family and you can pretty much consider that her hobby as well as spending time with friends. They Melvin and Shelley became grandparents on July 25th of 22 and their son Levi and their bonus daughter Megan had a beautiful baby girl named Parker. And a little over a year later and on August 8th of 23 they were blessed with a grandson and his name is Leighton. So it keeps them on their toes. So congratulations Shel for 25 years. We are I'm proud to have you here and proud to have you on our team. [applause]

Okay, now here is your opportunity. Would you like to say something? Paul says it in my bio. It's really been a pleasure working here long time. [applause] [applause]

Congratulations to Shelley. uh 25 years of service speaks volumes uh having to have served this residents of the city of church for that long. So, thank you for your service. We'll go ahead and move on to city events and announcements. Uh announcements of upcoming city events. We have uh Mr. Brian James.

Thank you, Mayor. Uh this uh Saturday, February 21st, out at Crescent Bin Nature Park, we're doing our parks department's doing the star party. That's 700 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. and Crescent Bend is located at 12805 West Schaefer Road. All ages encouraged to attend. The next day, Sunday, February 22nd, uh out at Crescent Bend, again, is the nature scavenger hunt. That's from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. Uh exciting. This time of year, BBYA is having their opening day, Saturday, February 28th. Uh, so you'll start hearing the crack of aluminum against baseballs or wooden aluminum or wooden baseballs. Our next council meeting is March 3rd, 6 pm here in council chambers.

Thank you, Mr. James. Announcements and recognition by the city manager. Uh, no further announcements for me, mayor. Thank you.

All right. And I have no announcements at this time. Uh, we'll move on to a hearing of the residents. Uh this time is set aside for any person who wishes to address city council. Each person should fill out the speaker registration registrator uh prior to the meeting. Presentation should be limited to no more than three minutes. All remarks should be addressed to the council as a body and not to any individual member thereof. Any person making uh personal impertinent or slanderous remarks while addressing the council may be requested to leave the meeting. If you could also please when you come up state your name and your address, it would be very much appreciated. Mayor Pro Tim Davis, do we have anybody wishing to speak?

Yes, sir. First up is Maggie Titterington.

Good evening, Council Mayor. I would like to thank uh city manager Steve Williams and deputy city manager Brian James uh for meeting with me to help clarify the situation with the flyover and the closure of FM309 to accomplish this. Uh this was a uh 40-minute discussion you all had, which I very much appreciated everybody having input and speaking about it. For the record, in speaking with both gentlemen, it is not the city of Shirts requesting the closure of FM309, but rather Union Pacific Railroad as part of the agreement that is required for their approval of the flyover. That approval must be granted for the project to move forward. I recognize and have personally witnessed the increase in traffic over the years. I have lived here since 1973 when FM39 was just two lanes. Since then, with the continued growth of our community and surrounding areas, traffic has steadily increased and will continue to do so. According to Texot, in 2023, there are more than 18,000 vehicles per day traveling FM39. Projections indicate that number could nearly double by 2050, reaching over 34,000 plus vehicles per day, which is an increase of approximately 600 additional cars each year. So this significant growth in reality is something we have to plan for thoughtfully. To be clear, the chamber is not opposed to the flyover itself. We understand that it will help alleviate traffic congestion particularly for those traveling towards Cibilo as well as aid our first responders who because of a train crossing are unable to reach a citizen in need. Our concern is specifically with the closure of FM39 as part of that process. So, first the direct impact on small businesses. Christian Brothers Automotive and 14 other small businesses will be immediately and negatively affected. These businesses depend on visibility, accessibility, and drive by traffic.

Removing direct access diminishes those critical advantages. As every business owner understands, success is built on three key factors: location, location, and location. This closure would significantly undermine that foundation. Second, the impact on commercial truck routing and safety. FM39 is currently, from my understanding, the approved route for 18 wheelers crossing to FM78, not Shirts Parkway. This is already evidenced by the collisions that have occurred on Shirts Parkway. It's I think it's been two and six months. If FM309 is closed, where will commercial truck traffic be officially redirected? So without clear planning and enforcement, we risk increased safety concerns and unintended consequences on roads not designed for that level of truck traffic. And third, the impact on our school district, military personnel, and daily commuters. If Shirts Parkway becomes the primary access point to FM78, we will see increased congestion, accelerated roadway wear, and significant strain on surrounding roads such as Elbell Road. Anyone who has traveled elbell during school hours understands the existing congestion. I'm almost done. Additional diverted traffic will only intensify those challenges for families, students, and working residents. So, we at the chamber believe there is a workable solution that balances infrastructure improvements with the protection of our existing businesses, commuters, and community. To achieve that, we respectfully request that Union Pacific Railroad and Tex DOT come to the table with the city stakeholders and the business community to collaboratively explore alternatives that do not disproportionately harm our local economy. And again, I just want to thank the city and appreciate you all wanting to come to the table and do this. But I I cannot stress enough the concern that we have for these 15 businesses as well as the other issues that I have brought forward to you all. and we are more than willing as the chamber to step forward and walk along these decisions and these talks. Thank you,

Mr. Mayor. Next up is Daniel Jameson.

Good evening, Mayor Council. And if you don't mind, I'm going to turn my back to you guys because I want to talk to these guys. Let's talk food. Everybody likes to eat. How about a breakfast? All you need to eat eggs to order, bacon, sausage, hash brown, waffles, fruit cocktail, coffee. You can drink orange juice. You can drink. Just sit around and talk and fellowship with each other. $12. Take that meal to Jenny's IHOP. See if you don't pay $15, $20 a person. This is all you can eat for $12. We invite you as veterans of foreign war. Come and have breakfast on us. We're going to be providing you a breakfast. First responders, fire department, police department, EMS, you guys come take care of you. Residents, we welcome you all to come and get a good meal. You can't beat the price. Location right here on 7 FM 778. Look for the M681 tank sitting out front. The helmets are out front. I'll be there before 6 o'clock starting the coffee. So like any any other good soldier, coffee is first. Everything else falls into place. Thank you.

Next up is Holly Richard. Good evening, council mayor. Thank you for your time. My name is Holly Richard. I live at 11633 Arbor Park Lane. I am here tonight because the city's financial stability is weakening due to the continued focus on increasing employee compensation. Competitive wages matter. However, it is financially irresponsible to rely on compensation studies that repeatedly push shirts to match surrounding cities pay scales. Compensation studies are often used to justify upward adjustments based on surrounding cities. However, the peer comparison used in these studies frequently includes cities like San Antonio, the seventh largest city in the nation with approximately 1.4 4 million residents or Austin where the cost of living is roughly 40% higher than shirts. The cities used in this comp in these compensation studies operate on a scale that is fundamentally different from shirts. They pay more because they have much larger property and sales tax, higher and more complex cost structures, and broader service demands. When cities like San San Antonio and Austin are included in benchmarking averages, they elevate the overall pay scale, creating pressure for increases that do not reflect the city of churches shirts revenue base, population, or cost of living. Over the past five years, compensation studies have been used to justify increases that have pushed employee pay to unsustainable levels. In the last three years alone, annual compensation rose from 40 million to 53 million, adding 10 million in ongoing yearly obligations. Employee compensation is paid from the general fund. This year, the general fund is projected to generate

approximately 53 million in revenue, while total expenditures are about 54.5 million, resulting in an estimated 1.5 million deficit, even after last year's property tax increase. The city is currently relying on reserves to close this 1.5 million gap. Reserves are designed for emergencies, downturns, or one-time capital needs, not for reoccurring operational support. More concerning than the continual deficit the city is incurring is that roughly 95% of the general fund expenses is tied to employee compensation. Simply put, the city is relying on reserves to pay employees this year. There is no capacity for employee compensation increases and without decisive action, this imbalance will continue for years. When nearly every dollar the city brings in is locked into payroll, the city has little ability to correct deficits without increasing property taxes, reducing services, or drawing down reserves. None of these options strengthen long-term stability. I respectfully ask council to resist the pressure to match or exceed neighboring city's pay scales. Employee compensation decisions must be based on what shirts can sustainably afford because today's budget choices create long-term costs that shape the city's finances for years to come. Further, every dollar committed to unsustainable employee compensation is a dollar taken away from roads, infrastructure, public safety, and basic services that residents depend on. Council has both the authority and the responsibility to set priorities that protect residents and the city's long-term financial stability. As the next budget cycle approaches, residents are counting on you to lead with discipline, accountability, and fiscal responsibility. Thank you.

Next up is uh County Commissioner Jim Wolverton.

Mayor, council members, Mr. Williams got some good news and some not so good news. It's 11:03 Elbell Road is now fully functional. We have the lights working. It uh we will be holding some $50,000 from the architect and the builder simply because they cut all the feeds going outside. It took some like $30,000 to repair all that, but is once again a functional building. So, it's a it's safe for all the elections and whoever wants to to go there in the evening. So, the not so good is the service center 1052 FM78. We had a moisture problem in the slab. We have corrected the problem on the east side. That was nothing more than the cocking going away from the sidewalk and the wall which the water was just sheeting straight down. That's been repaired. It's going, you know, flashing's been put there now, so it won't happen again. Our biggest problem is on the west side. There was a 2-in water line that was leaking since 2022 that uh no one knew anything about it because it was the Real apartment. And uh I don't quite understand how they didn't realize that their water bill was astronomical because the new meters that the city put in are fantastic. It uh you know every time I have a leak on my sprinkler system, it shows those four little digits. Hey, you got problems. Apparently no one ever looked at it. But uh now they fixed it six months ago, but I still have moisture coming up through the slab. Uh we're monitoring everything for the moisture and the the mold. So far no mold, so we're happy about that. But I have a contractor giving me a price to divert all the water on the west side between our building and the RLE building which he has agreed to let us do this all the way down to Ciblo Creek because I just have to get the water out of there. If not, we'll have a reoccurring problem and uh with us allow allowing you to use 15,000 square feet. You don't need to be swimming in that area after a while. So it's a and I have been in contact with Mr. Williams and Mr. James and I will stay in contact with these gentlemen as to when it'll be available. I was hoping the end of March, but we're still having a little

bit of difficulty with the grinding of the of the slab and making sure it's sealed. So, but as soon as I get a a concrete date from the contractor, I will let you know. At that point, you can go ahead and schedule your move in. So, once again, it's we're glad that the county can uh partner with the city of Shirts and give you the space you needed. it uh the entire building was purchased for the understanding that we're going to grow and uh even right now the county is buying property in the unincorporated area and uh you know just we can't tell you where because land speculators will just buy up around us and cost us twice as much but it's designed for fire EMS and the sheriff's department along with the con way there'll be living quarters inside the way because once we do that for the unincorporated area or even close to the city limits hopefully your homeowners insurance will drop because we have services within five miles and that's that that'll be huge for all the residents of Guadalupe County. But uh you know we've we've had this plan in place for quite some time. It just uh I'm I'm back in it now and uh I don't know why it wasn't done earlier but you know just I'm I'm getting back on it. So anything that you people need give me a holler. It uh because some people say well how why haven't you done anything? Well I can't do anything inside the city limits until I am asked. I have absolutely no authority inside city limits and uh Mr. Williams, Mr. James, I've talked to them before. Matter of fact, we've done roads for you and all we have to do is be asked and then we'll come in and do whatever we possibly can. So, thank you very much and y'all have a great evening. All right, goodbye.

Next up is Billy Langghouse. Good evening, city council mayor. I am here once again with the same thing on my mind. Tonight, I want to ask you, how can early voting has started today with somebody sitting on the city council tonight, same person? Is that justifiable? I don't know. I don't think so. I think that the law states what it says and it's supposed to be followed. The seat was resigned by the state on December 8th, 2025. It's been occupied for every meeting since and though it's been decided that the person has vacated the seat will not be on the council soon in the near future. There are other candidates who have filed and are qualified and yet no one has been appointed to the seat. Why is that? Maybe my voice is not the strong one that you need to hear. Perhaps you need to hear from some higher authority than I am. I will try to make that happen. Thank you. Next up is Raquel Gutierrez. Good evening, mayor, council, and staff. My name is Raquel Gutierrez. I live at 1016 Silva Tree and I am running for city council in the upcoming special election. As I embark on the campaign

trail, neighbors have asked me why I'm running for city council and they deserve a clear answer. Shorts has been my home for over three decades. We have raised our daughter here and we've seen and lived the growth. And for the past decade, I've been deeply immersed in this community, listening, advocating, and serving. We are at an important point in our city's growth. Growth itself is not the issue, but how it is managed is. Growth requires discipline. It requires planning. It requires accountability. I believe our city needs steady, experienced leadership that is laser focused on three essential priorities. Public safety always a priority. Number two, infrastructure that keeps pace with growth and development. Lastly, protecting the quality of life that brought so many families here in the first place. We can grow and remain safe. We can expand and remain responsible. We can thrive without losing what makes shirts special. The upcoming special election matters because local decisions shape our everyday lives, our roads that we drive on, the neighborhoods we live in, and the future we leave to the next generation. I'm running to represent our residents for responsible local leadership. I'm ready to serve with steady judgment, clear priorities, and a deep commitment to this community because Schurz deserves leadership that protects what works. I am prepared to do the work. I am available. I show up. So, if you care about keeping our city steady, safe, and thriving, I

would be honored to earn your support, and I invite you to stand with me on April the 4th. Thank you for the privilege of your time and I will look for y'all on the campaign trail. Thank you again. Next up is Mr. Dana Eldridge.

Good evening ladies and gentlemen. My name is Dana Eldridge, 2628 Gallant Fox Drive, Shirts, Texas. I've been a resident of Shirts for three decades myself. Um, I'm very disgruntled by the division that's trying to be worked in our city right now. Our city attorney, Mr. Anti has stated according to the attorney general's ruling that Miss Allison Hayward is allowed to serve on his council until the special election that Miss Gutierrez is running to do. She's allowed to sit here until that election is done. continuing to bring it forward to you guys at this council is just a further effort to divide our city, not to bring it together. As you can tell, I'm supporting Allison in the commissioner spot. Okay? But we don't need to divide our city. We need honesty, integrity to be up here. Don't tell me what you think I want to hear. Do what's best for the city of Shirts. Not for yourself, not for your special interests, but for the city of Shirts. That's what you're here for. That's what you've been elected to do. So, please try not to divide the city and do what's best for Shirts. Thank you.

Mr. Mayor, that's all for this evening. Okay, having no other uh residents should be heard, we'll go ahead and move on to the consent agenda items. The consent agenda items are considered self-explanatory and information packets are provided to council and available for public viewing. These items require no separate discussion unless requested by council. Uh I'll name off all 14 items. Item one is the minutes. Item two is appointments and reappoints and resignations. Uh item three is resolution 25-R145. Item four is resolution 26-R17. Item five is resolution 26-R15. Item six is resolution 26-R24. Item seven is resolution 26-R25. Item eight is resolution 26-R26. Item 9 is resolution 26-R27. Item 10 is resolution 26-R28. Item 11 is resolution 26-R22. Item 12 is resolution 26-R29. Item 13 is resolution 26-R30. Item 14 is resolution 26-R31. At this time, I would like to remove item three for separate action. Council, do any other items need to be removed for separate action?

Item two, please. Okay, we'll go ahead and remove item two from the consent agenda. Are there any other items? Having none, can I get uh a motion to approve item one and item 4 through 14? So moved. Second. Okay. Having a motion made by Council Member Hayward and seconded by Council Member Guerrero. Uh I am gonna uh the we're not able to publish the votes or cast votes electronically. So I'm going to ask for everybody's vote. So can I get everybody uh to say yay if you're going to approve the the motion? I I I

I I. Any nays? I Okay. All right.

Okay. So, having uh seven seven yays, no nays, item passes. All right, we'll go ahead and uh start with item two. Uh Mayor, the only reason I pulled that off was uh Mr. John Carbone's last name is misspelled. It has no N. I mean, no E in it. It's just supposed to be John. It's C A R B O N. No E for the record. Okay. Uh, we'll go ahead and make those corrections. Making those corrections. Can After making the corrections, I make a motion that we approve item number two.

Appointments and reappointments. Second. All right. So, we have a a motion by Council Member Hayward, seconded by Council Member Maluso. So um everybody in favor say I. I.

All right. Anybody oppose. All right. Having seven nays, no nays. Motion passes. All right. [clears throat] The reason for pulling item number three was removed for separate action. It was noted after posting the agenda that administrative error had occurred. The res resolution number provided 25-R145 does not exist. The correct resolution number for this item is 26-R33, which is what is included in the in the agenda packet. With this correction, do I have a motion to approve item three, resolution 26-R33? Some move.

Second. Okay. Having a motion made by council member Hayward, seconded by council member Guerrero. Uh can I u can I get motion to approve? Can I? All in favor say I. I. I. I. I.

Any nays. All right. Having seven eyes, no nays. Motion passes. All right, moving on to discussion and action items. Item number 15, ordinance 26-m28, amending city council rules of conduct and procedure. Uh we have uh Miss uh Miss Sheree Corny. Go ahead. Carney.

Carney. Good evening, mayor, council members, Mr. Santi, and Mr. Williams. Tonight, I bring forth ordinance 26M028, amending the city council rules of conduct and procedure, repealing all ordinances or parts of ordinances in conflict with this ordinance, and providing an effective date. So, the changes that were made occurred to the table of contents in section 7.6. These were edited to remove references of two readings for ordinance approvals to reflect the change to one reading adopted by residents in the city charter special election held in November of 2024. I also reformatted the table of contents for presence. Article six was updated to include the title deputy city manager in lie of any assistant manager to reflect both appropriate titles within the city manager's office. Article 11, updating membership restrictions on city boards, committees, and commissions, whereby no person may serve consecutively on the planning and zoning commission, economic development corporation board, or parks and recreation advisory board. Additionally, no person related in second degree by affinity or consanguinity to the mayor or any member of council shall be eligible to be appointed to serve on the board of adjustments, economic development corporation board, planning and zoning commission, building and standards commission or the tax increment reinvestment zone board. These changes were all discussed and approved at the June 17, 2025 city council meeting. This amendment also includes the addition of article 14, city council training and travel policy that was created on July 3rd, 2025 by a subcommittee of the city council consisting of Mayor Ralph Cuturus, council member Hayward, council member Watson, and city manager Steve Williams. Um, the other changes included some minor edits for grammatical and spelling errors.

Okay, any discussion on this item? Mayor, I'll make a motion to approve um ordinance 26M28. Second. Okay, we have a motion made by Mayor Pro Tim Davis and a second by Council Member Watson. Uh all in favor say I. I. I.

Any nays? Having seven yays? No nazs. Motion passes. This time we'll go ahead and go into workshop on item 16. Workshop on church PD TLO 2025 racial profile racial profiling report. Chief Lowry.

Good evening, Mayor, Council, Mr. Williams. This evening, uh, Jim Larry, your chief of police, presenting to you our annual TCO racial profiling report. This report is required by law to be presented to the council. It can either be presented to you as just a simple presentation through paperwork or we can do a workshop and we've opted for the workshop furtherance of our transparency. Racial profiling report again is required by state law. As a quick overview, some of you have seen this then we'll get into some numbers. I want to define racial profiling. The national dialogue continues. The state of Texas legislation, policy and training, data collection and reporting. Racial profiling versus criminal profiling. Without a doubt, racial profiling is illegal. That refers essentially to somebody being stopped based by their their race alone. So if I see a black male Hispanic person driving a vehicle and I stop that person merely because of their race, that is a violation of the law. completely illegal. An example of criminal profiling, which is legal, if I know there is a Hispanic male that has committed a bank robbery, driving a white Camaro with a red top and I use that in criminal intelligence and I stop a Hispanic male driving that car, that is criminal uh intelligence and it's criminal profiling. That is not racial profiling. Now, if I've stopped that person once and then I continue to stop that person and then we can get into some racial profiling issues once you've cleared that person. So, you have racial profiling which is illegal and then you have criminal profiling which is a legal tactic. Understanding racial profiling in the 1990s national dialogue was elevated on racial profiling. Department of Justice DOJ civil rights division began to investigate allegations of racial profiling in police departments. The DOJ cops, the community oriented policing services office, developed a resource

guide for police departments on assess at assessing racial profiling data and offered comprehensive strategies to reduce racial profiling which the search police department follows. uh DOJ cops office strategies, diverse recruitment and selection, training and education for the police and the community, minority community engagement initiatives, accountability and supervision, collecting and analyzing traffic stop data such as our racial profiling report tonight using technology to reduce racial profiling and increase officer safety. As you notice, there is no one tool that can guarantee that you will stop racial profiling. It's a conglomeration of many things that you have to do starting with the culture and the training of your department. Texas leg uh state legislation in 2001 state uh bill 1074 required Texas police departments to collect analyze and report motor vehicle related contact data. I'd like to clarify something here. When we talk about racial profiling in this data report, it's contact in any motor vehicle that is initiated by an officer. So, if an officer is dispatched to a call, reference a suspicious person, a white pickup truck, and they stop a white pickup truck on that call, that is not selfinitiated. They were dispatched to that call. If an officer rolls up on an accident, if an officer makes a traffic stop that is selfinitiated or any other self-initiated call, that is self-initiated contact on a motor vehicle and that data must be collected. 2009 uh House Bill 3389 modified the law amending definitions within the law. Minor changes just for clarity for some things. And in 2017, House Bill 3051 changed racial designation and Senate Bill 1849 commonly known as the Sandra Bland law expanded data collection requirements. In the city of Shirts, we exceed what is

required in collecting our data than what's required by state law. Church police department. our policy and training. As a police department, we are committed to constitutional policing and protecting the civil rights of all people. Police officers are prohibited from engaging in racial profiling in any police contact, seizure or forefeiter. We are beginning a process to start collecting data on our seizure and forefeiter to also compare that for a racial biased uh concern to make sure that we don't have that occurring. That's not required by law, but we are doing that on our own. Police officers attend mandated uh Texas Commission on Law Enforcement Tik training that includes racial profiling and cultural diversity. Officers are required to enter disposition codes for all traffic stops. So when an officer makes a traffic stop, they have to clear that traffic stop and we collect that data as to whether or not they knew who the driver was beforehand. Was there a search? Was physical force used? Was there contraband found? Was there an arrest made? All of that data is collected. Shift supervisors are required to conduct monthly audit reviews of of officers digital video recorder or body one cameras. And again uh approximately a year and a half two years ago the council was very gracious and allowed us to upgrade our system. We use Axon cameras which has been very beneficial to us. It has a catalog system that helps us through our system of archiving that that data. Number of complaints on racial profiling for our calendar year 2025 is zero. We did not have any racial profiling complaints for the 2025 year. There are some data I'd like to go over with and then I'll explain to you what I believe is the gold standard and what they use for trying to determine through your data analysis whether or not racial profiling appears to occur. Again, this is not a panacea to say that it is or not. It's a comprehensive uh process

that you go through. is if you look at this, police officers made 7,861 traffic stops last year. The previous year we made 4,775 and you see the years before that. As I spoke to you last year, I said our numbers would go up. I'm a firm believer that traffic stops have a correlation with our crime and I think that also correlates with our recent recognition as the safest city in San Antonio, the ninth in the state, 82nd in the nation. As traffic stops go up, crime will have a tendency to go down again as we follow with the DAX formula overlaying our data for traffic stops, accidents, and crime. And again, what I'm talking about is you probably won't see an increase in traffic stops next year. I think that is a very good number. What we preach at Church Police Department is not quantity, but quality. They give you an example of that. If I got a four-way stop sign in the middle of a neighborhood and an officer sits out there using that as a fishing hole trying to stop people who do what we call a California traffic stop, what does that really have to do with crime and other issues? Yes, a person's roll through it. A lot of people do that. But if I have an intersection, it's my number one intersection for major accidents and fatalities and the cause is running traffic lights, they need to be out there at that intersection. I'm having vehicle burgies along 35 at a hotel. That's where they need to be at that time of the night. So, it's when they make traffic stops, we call it quality traffic stops, not quantity. So, if you look down here and uh the second bullet, 98.49% of the traffic stops, which is the national average, the officers did not know the race of the driver prior to the stop. That's a key number, and that number has been consistent since data has been kept for the last 15 to 20 years. The first uh group of numbers here, we break it down into five categories by

race. It shows you all our traffic stops. It breaks down uh the number and it gives you a percentage there. And then if you look over at the second block, it is the number of citations that were received based off of the number of traffic stops. Really see nothing that is concerning in these numbers as they come about from the the race that was stopped and the citations that were issued. our racial profiling report. Uh we also are required by law two years ago we track injuries, physical force used resulted in bodily injury to not only the suspect but also to the officer or both. So what I'd like to highlight here is out of the 7,861 traffic stops, there were only two incidents where somebody was injured. And in both those incidents, physical use of force application, there was an injury for uh one time was a white, one time was a Hispanic. And during both incidents, both the suspect and the officer were injured. Uh we had physical force applications used three times with white and nobody was injured on that. But that goes into the category of no physical force with injuries. So the next chart it may appear to be uh confusing and if you will bear with me until we get to the next slide. We call these searches and contraband hits. What we're trying to say is the number of searches that were conducted by race and then the contraband hits is they search and they want to know if they found a contraband in there. And again, contraband can be uh anything that is illegal such as narcotics by law, a weapon if it's under certain circumstances, or a sledgehammer if they had used it in a crime. Otherwise, the sledgehammer is not against the law. It's not contraband. So, what we're showing here is Alaska Native, they had one uh conducted search and they had a contraband hit of one. And if you follow the chart, three and three all the way

down, it gives you the numbers and the percentage of the hits. If you look at our hits, the national average right now for most police departments is less than 20% getting a hit when we do a contraband. Our officers are getting well over 60%, sometimes 100% on their hit, which I think speaks volumes for the discretion and the work that our officers are doing. So you take these hit ratios and then what you look at is what we call an enforcement ratio. So if you assume the data is correct that 98% of the time the officer did not know the race, the officer didn't know contraband was going to be found and then they find the contraband and then they know that's against the law and then the decision to make an arrest. What you're looking for, this is the the standard, the gold standard. What they look for now on our scholars is the initial process of analyzing these numbers is is if you have a disparity in the number of arrests based off of your hit ratio in your races from another race. So if we look at this, this chart basically shows you that 0% had for uh Alaskan Native Asian Pacific was 0% black had a 6.25% 25% the decision to make an arrest after contraband. White you had 10.87 Hispanic and Latino 14.81. There's really not a very large number of disparity in there. You really get concerned when there's more than 20 and 25% or higher to show that disparity for our hit ratio. So contraband types just so that you know what's what we're finding out on our street. So you may have more contrabands than what you have contraband searches because somebody might find drugs and a gun. So a gun and drugs may be listed for one person, but that's contraband listed twice. So we found alcohol 18 times, drugs 113 times. Our most common is going to be marijuana. We have found

some uh heroin and methamphetamine. We have not found fentanyl yet, but these are 113 drug hits. Others are your 34. That's again an example of that would be the sledgehammer that's used in a crime, pry bar, a hammer that was used to force entry and a burglary stolen property and then we only found one weapon uh during a contraband search. The role of the traffic enforcement again is for crime reduction and traffic safety. I hope I have expressed that again. It's quality traffic stops not quantity. Effective traffic enforcement is relational policing in our neighborhoods. real time and actional intelligence and data-driven approaches to crime and traffic safety. It's a DDAX is the is the acronym and it's a a program put on by our uh federal highway department. It also allows us that teaches our officers the importance of understanding that data and allows our crime analyst to give us where we can return our return on our investment by putting our officers in the place where they need to be to making those traffic stops or addressing traffic accidents and quality of life issues. If you have any comments or questions.

I have no comments or questions, but I definitely appreciate your report. It was extremely informative. Thank you, Chief. Thank you, sir. Good presentation, Chief. You have a comment, may I? Good presentation. Go ahead. Well, Chief, just one quick question. How do flock cameras factor into all of the information we received tonight?

So flock cameras, we we are currently on the and and on course to get 41 cameras. We have 14 cameras that are operational. They don't take pictures of the driver. They take pictures of the license plate and they store that in a data. So, I don't know is u our most recent positive uh story on that would be I don't know if you saw the story last week on China Grove. They arrested a person for murder. Uh because of our flock camera on the south side of town, they were able to track that vehicle and get a suspect out of it. So, uh flock cameras take license plate. It's not racially motivated or anything. It's just the license plate. It takes color of a car. Puts it in a database that we can go search for. So if we had a crime that occurred and we know the license plate number, we can see if we can find that. We've also used it within the last year finding a elderly person that was missing. We were able to track them to the north side of San Antonio.

Thank you, sir. Thank you, Chief. I have a question. Uh, every unit has one of those, correct? So, the flock cameras itself are stationary and once we get them all up, they're actually within the city at major intersections where you would egress and ingress for the city. they're not actually in the car. We have a software system that can get a hit where we can say, "Hey, we're looking for a stolen vehicle." But every car will have that ability to get that report directly from the dispatcher. Gotcha. Any other questions? Good evening and thank you very much.

Thank you, Chief. Okay. Uh that's the only item we had on the workshop. So, we're going to be going into close session on items 17 and 18. Item 17, the city council will meet in close session. Pursuant to section 551-071 of the Texas government code, the city of church will consult in close session with its attorney to receive legal advice regarding pending or contemplated litigation, a settlement offer or matter in which the duty of the attorney to the governmental body under the Texas disciplinary rules of professional conduct of the state bar of Texas clearly conflicts with this chapter to include lease agreements with Dish Network. Item 18, the city council will meet in close session in accordance with section 551-072, Texas government code deliberation regarding the purchase, exchange, lease, or value of real properties for the city facilities, drainage and detention, and general municipal uses. So, we'll be going to close session at 702.

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Glasses. Okay, we're going to go ahead and come out of uh close session. Uh we're going to reconvene into regular session at 7:25. Moving on to item uh number 19 and 20. Uh there will be no action to be taken on those items because there were there was no action taken in close session. So we won't be taking any action on items 19 or 20. Um, and items [clears throat] 21, 22, and 23 are in the city council packets. So, no discussion to occur on those. Uh, any request by the mayor and council members for updates or information from staff?

Yes, mayor. I need Brian James to give us a visualization on FM39 grade above grade and a traffic analysis, impact analysis. That was also my my request as well. So I wanted to for request [clears throat] one. Okay. Any other requests?

No. Okay. Uh having no other requests, uh the only other request that I would like to make is I'd like to get an update on the um road construction of the Dove Meadows uh project. when we get an update on that and then also an update on the road construction behind Sonic over there by First Street and Lee Street. So, if we can get an update on that, I very much appreciate it. I have one more thing, please. Okay. I wanted to see if we can get a update in regards to the ordinance for Shirts Parkway for the traffic control. Okay.

Okay. Thank you for that, Brian. Um, any requests by mayor, council members that items or presentations be placed on future city council agendas? We've already discussed that. Uh, any city and community events attended or to be attended by council? Nothing for me, sir. I attended any P and that was all. did the uh gym ribbon cutting today and the chamber lunchon. The uh ribbon cutting today uh police banquet and strategic planning retreat

strategic plan retreat and the ribbon cutting for the uh city shirts gym. Uh the strategic planning meeting, the annual trail riders launch that was pretty awesome. They were a smaller group this year and the um Cibilo bingo at the Cibilo Senior Center. I attended the uh Northeast uh partnership lunchon, the uh chamber lunchon, state of the city and also attended the SCUISD uh school board meeting.

Okay. [clears throat] And I attended the NEP lunchon as well as well as a chamber lunchon today. Uh and then also attended the uh Rotary Gayla that they had for the SE UCISD uh leaders. So um having no other items for discussion, this meeting's adjourned at 7:29.