[Music]
Cassandra Gand I'll be presiding over
the meeting your mayor protim it's
Tuesday October 10th
2023 it's a little after 1 like 1:10 we
had a work a Clos session earlier that
delayed us if you would please stand so
we can recite the Pledge of Allegiance
thank you Amy are you on we do pets of
the week
now via Zoom
Amy
I'm hearing no Amy so let's move on we
don't have jobs of the week to today um
next up is our 3.1 ARA Ed proposal and
we have Irene Barra and Chris
Faber good afternoon mayor protm city
council Chris favor with economic
development we are going to talk to you
today about the repurposing of some arpa
funds
okay before I turn it over to Irene to
get into the details I just wanted to
give Council a a recap of the background
and how we got to where we are
today um the city was allocated a little
over $24 million through the uh US
Treasury for uh arpa funds um related to
coid relief 10.4 million was set aside
for community and economic development
initiatives and of that the council
awarded $1 million to the Community
Foundation of southern New Mexico on
behalf of bitwise for Workforce
Development related projects uh over the
summer uh bitwise um file for bankruptcy
and so they are no longer um coming to
Los cruus and um opening up their
operations so as a result City manager's
office recommended submitting a new
slate of Workforce Development
programming this was presented at the Ed
PRC last month um and it is here to you
in front of you today for a work session
um and we will uh Irene will go over all
the different programs at this point in
time but here's just a kind of a a
30,000 foot view of the different areas
that we were trying to accomplish with
this funding thank you thank you Chris
good afternoon
Irene my water
yeah there's quite a bit so I feel like
I'm going to get a dry mouth here in a
bit
all right good afternoon mayor PM uh
counselors Irene B with economic
development when we were first tasked
with coming up with uh new Workforce
Development projects we wanted to take
into consideration how our community and
our residents were still being impacted
by the
pandemic and in doing so we identify the
following areas first our most
vulnerable residents are still
struggling to secure and maintain
employment and housing our parents and
our families are still struggling to
find child
care and lastly we saw a need to expand
programs and opportunities that would
allow for upskill training for our
Workforce the programs that we are
proposing today provide real solutions
to address these
challenges the first project that we are
proposing is the transitional job
training program this is a four to six
week training program that will provide
assistance and training to those at are
below the poverty level as well as those
experiencing housing
insecurity we hope to train 150
participants over the next three years
with the goal of re-entering the
workforce in addition to training
clients will receive individual case
management as well as assistance with
job search and job placement and a stien
at the completion of
training since 2020 labor force
participation rate participation rates
have dropped while numbers of those
experiencing housing insecurity and
those at or below the poverty level have
risen according to a May 2023 report by
the New Mexico legislative finance
committee New Mexico has seen a 48%
uptick in those experiencing housing
insecurity the report points to several
causes of housing insecurity including
disconnection from formal employment as
well as lower educational
achievements
recent data provided by the US Bureau of
Labor Statistics shows that those with
less than a high school education are
experiencing a higher rate of
unemployment at close to 10% compared to
those with the Bachelors are greater at
roughly
3.8% labor force participation rates are
also significantly higher for those with
bachelor's degrees or more at more than
84% participation compared to those with
Le and high school education at around
55% it is essential that we work to
provide opportunities for our most
vulnerable and underserved populations
to gain the skills and education needed
to reenter the
workforce donana community college
career and life skills academy will
customize training to help participants
build a blueprint for employment
developing a personalized plan for
long-term employment and comp career
pathway options emphasizing personal
discovery career exploration financial
and computer literacy self- advocacy and
Community
engagement similar initiatives funded by
the US Department of Labor and the US
Department of Housing and Development
over a 5year period saw 59% of
participants within one year of
completing training obtaining employment
and another 24% entering competitive
employment and 4% becoming
self-employed paid employment along with
Heth care Healthcare and housing plays a
Cru cral role in eradicating poverty
research has found that economically
secure families with as little as $400
in savings are better able to weather
the es and flows of income drops and
unexpected expenses they are also less
likely to rely on local services for
housing support and cash
assistance by addressing both the labor
force shortage and the increasing number
of individuals add or below the poverty
line we are working to advance the
economic mobility of our residents and
making a positive impct impact on the
Financial Health and long-term viability
of our community with this particular
project we will be partnering with
donana Community College we are
allocating 24,000 20 240,000 excuse me
for this project over a threeyear
period when looking to address the issue
of the child care shortage there are two
goals that we had in mind first we
wanted to provide support to those
business bu that were able to weather
the pandemic and help them build back
the second was to look at the number of
providers that we lost as a result of
the pandemic and build back capacity
through them as
well through the child care provider
micro Grant we will be providing micro
grants to those child care providers
that were negatively impacted due to or
during the pandemic to assist with loss
of income loss of Staffing and the
decrease or increase of costs due to the
pandemic Economic Development Department
will be taking the lead on this project
we are recommending $150,000 for this
project immeasurable outcomes that we
are looking at include the allocation of
funding the number of new staff hired
the number of Children and Families
served increase to Services provided and
increase in
Revenue when families do not have the
child care they need the implications
are far reaching there is a greater
economic impact to be considered a study
commissioned in 2022 by ready Nation
Council for strong America which is a
national bipartisan a nonprofit
organization conducted a national survey
of working parents the survey provided
evidence of the various ways in which
parents time and effort at work
productivity and career opportunities
are diminished by problems with child
care merging the survey with labor
market data the following are the costs
to families businesses and taxpayers as
a result of insufficient child
care families lose an average of 5,500
per working parent in Lost earnings in
more time looking for work across of 14
million parents of children under the
age of three that equates to 778 billion
per year businesses lose an average of
1600 per working parent in reduced
revenue and an extra cost in hiring the
annual bur of that to businesses is $23
billion taxpayers lose an average of
$1,400 per working parent in lower
income tax and sales tax revenue an
annual that amounts to $21 billion each
year in
total the child care crisis has cost $22
billion in Lost earnings productivity
and revenue every year of which New
Mexico has seen a loss of $586
million
the skills children learn in quality
Child Care programs helps to set them up
to excel in school and as Jobs get more
complex and technologically advanced
businesses will need highly educated and
well-rounded employees to succeed we
need to prepare our children for the
workforce of tomorrow and high quality
care for infants and toddlers can help
Forge the steps to that path ensuring
that parents can access child care so
they can work and build successful
careers to support their families
strengthens our community the workforce
and the
economy the next project that we are
proposing also addresses the issue of
child care this project is the childcare
business accelerator
program funding for this will work to
increase the number of providers
currently in the city of Las Cruses
through this program participants will
learn best practices including steps to
starting a business bookkeeping
accounting marketing and branding
grounding they will also understand
state regulations and Licensing
processes food programs child care
assistance and be connected to helpful
resources in caregiver
networks partners that we will be
working with include the doniana County
early childhood education Coalition the
Small Business Development Center and
West we recommending 150,000 for this
project initial measurable outcomes that
we will be taking into consideration
include the number of newly established
providers the number of Staff hired the
number of families served and the number
of children
served prior to the pandemic Los cruus
residents struggled to find Child Care
the pandemic only exacerbated that
shortage the state of New Mexico
recently extended the free Child Care
Program for those families at or below
the 400% poverty level although this
will help to address the issue of cost
the lack of providers in Long weight
list by registered and licensed Child
Care Centers remains an issue the New
Mexico Early Childhood Education and
Care Department estimates as many as
72,000 children under the age of six
around the state are eligible for free
child care based on income but only
about 26 of those families are receiving
those Services of those families not
receiving Services lack of providers has
been a major
issue Trends in the number of licensed
and registered childcare centers and
homes in doniana County saw a 37%
decrease between 2020 and
2022 in a 2022 needs assessment
conducted by NMSU Center for Community
analysis and the doniana county Early
Childhood Coalition found that 47% of
parents are still in need of child care
services there are currently 39% of
children under the age of five living
below the 100% poverty level and an
additional 66% of children under the age
of six living below the % poverty level
there are roughly
13,498 children under the age of five in
donana county in need of child care
services working in partnership with the
doniana county Early Childhood
Coalition using research based
curriculum and leveraging the expertise
of the Small Business Development Center
and West the childcare business
accelerator program will provide the
foundational knowledge and support for
entrepreneurs to increase the number of
much needed childcare providers in the
city of Las cruus
when looking at programming to expand
upskill training there were two things
that we identified first we wanted to
try and provide support and expand the
current apprenticeship programs that we
have in place secondly we want to and
this is a long-term goal increase the
number of apprenti ship programs that
are currently in the city of Las
Cruses funding for the pre- apprenti
apprenticeship program will expand
currently the southern New Mexico
Independent Electrical Contractors
apprenticeship program including upskill
training for licensed drammen funding
will also support the pre-apprenticeship
pilot program and transportation needs
for Las crusis Public Schools
participants Partners in this will be
the sou New Mexico Independent
Electrical Contractors the Las crusis
Public Schools academic career
experience program and the New Mexico
Workforce Connection office we are
budgeting 300,000 for this project
initial measurable outcomes that we are
taking into consideration include the
completion of program hours Proficiency
in skill trade proficiency and knowledge
of industry and occupation certification
obtainment and employment
attainment apprenticeship programs are
an industry-driven highquality career
pathway employ where employers can
develop and prepare their future
Workforce since 2012 there has been a
64% increase in new apprenticeship
programs across the country including 2
million new apprentices there have been
396,000 graduates of apprenticeship
programs within the Last 5 Years and
14,700 New programs created of which 94%
of graduates retained employment after
completion of training earning average
salaries average annual salaries of
70,000 a
year of the 67 registered apprenticeship
programs in New Mexico only two are
located here in Los Cruses two the first
is the data scientist program offered
through the doniana County Community
College the second is the southern New
Mexico Independent Electrical
Contractors SNM is one of 50 chapters
Nationwide and has been offering
training for over 30 years through a 4E
apprenticeship and training
program the pre-apprenticeship program
career Pathways offers participants ages
16 to 24 years old to earn 1590 an hour
and gain up to 400 hours of training
students gain Hands-On EXP experience
and mentorship from industry
professionals over the next three years
funding will help support SN M's
expansion to train new workers
apprentices Journeyman Electrician
continuing education and safety training
as well as support the
pre-apprenticeship pilot program in Las
Cruis including Transportation needs for
pre-apprenticeship
the final project that we are proposing
is a manufacturing and advanced
manufacturing
training funding will help assist
Employers in upscaling the current
Workforce with existing industry
certification surrounding Automation and
advanced
manufacturing the pandemic had a
significant impact on a number of
Industries including the manufacturing
industry affecting access to materials
and disrupting Supply chains the
industry however used used this
disruption to seek advancements in new
technologies in integrating Advanced and
computed processes the ship to Advanced
manufacturing processes has created the
needs to upscale our current Workforce
through this program we will be working
with msia Valley Economic Development
Alliance and doniana community colleges
manufacturing program we are
recommending $100,000 for this project
and initial measurable outcomes we are
taking into consideration are the number
of employers served number of employees
trained increase in skills and
Proficiency in skills training
manufacturing roles of the future will
require digital skills and the ability
to problem solve today's Logics
Logistics coordinator tomorrow's
logistician today's maintenance
technician is tomorrow's automation
technician today's process technician is
tomorrow's sustainable manufacturing
technician and today's operator is
tomorrow's Advanced
operator Advanced machine
operator since 2020 the demand for these
roles has
increased logisticians have seen a 54%
growth rate with wages ranging from 14
to 39 an hour automation technicians
have seen a 67% growth rate with wages
ranging from 26 to 39 an hour
sustainable manufacturing process
technicians have seen a 35% growth rate
with wages ranging from 14 to 35 an hour
and advanced machine operators have seen
an 18% growth rate with wages ranging
from 15 to 16 an hour the report
estimated an existing labor force of
roughly 560,000 that are currently
supporting production output with
another 27,000 having transferable
skills with access to a Workforce
pipeline educational institutions
available to provide the necessary
training and a region with one of the
largest manufacturing and distribution
centers in North America investing in
advanced manufacturing training would
enhance the region to attract
intelligent
manufacturing working in partnership
with mid and DCC this project will focus
on assisting Employers in upscaling
their current Workforce to gain the
training and certifications to meet the
current and future demands of the
manufacturing
industry in total we are recommending
five projects with a total budget
allocation of 940,000 with an additional
60,000 reserved for additional
programming or administrative
costs our hope is to turn these pilot
programs into permanent programming to
continue to assist our residents in the
city of Los
Cruses at this time I'd also like to
recognize the partners that have been
involved in the development of these
very important programs their knowledge
and expertise has been very instrumental
and I have been incredibly grateful for
the support Mary with
dacc Davin with Mita Gentry Roberts with
Southern New Mexico Independent
Electrical Contractors Jeff W with a
career red in Student Success program
and his team Joanne with sbdc Umberto
with West
Daisy L who is one of the members of the
doniana County early childhood Coalition
and the New Mexico Workforce Connection
staff and with that I stand for
questions thank
you thank you Irene um councel
ples thank you Madame chair and thank
you so much uh Miss Parra for your U
presentation it was very good very
thorough and the numbers look good um
forthcoming at least um now um you say
that the industry um you know all these
industries there's there's demands for a
certain Workforce and we're owning up or
we're going in that direction of
developing a Workforce that is
consistent with a demand correct correct
okay and are there any studies that show
that um
that show that most households are
there's maybe all the adults in that
household are working to support the
family are there any studies in that
regard or any information that can be
gathered in that
regard depending on the industry we
could probably find some information if
there's a specific occupation that
you're looking at there's definitely
demographic information available either
through um the Bureau of Labor
Statistics through the State Workforce
um quarterly Labor uh report reviews we
could definitely find that information
for you thank you it would be great and
the reason I'm asking is because I
brought this up at our Economic
Development policy Review Committee and
you were there Davin was there Mary was
there Chris was there and a few others
were there U that whatever seio I think
was there and Katrina um and um what
concerns me is that more people uh
adults in a household are working
outside of the home MH and
um and there's a there's a need for
child care and child care is usually not
affordable and my fear is that children
will be left home alone and I've heard
of and know of um families where a child
as young as five is left to tend for a
toddler maybe even younger um and what I
raised is um and I always look at Davin
d you have to do this um to uh have uh
businesses manufacturers whatever we
bring into the City and maybe existing
ones too to provide inhouse uh child
care and I think and so thank you so
much for for emphasizing that and bring
all those stats on that um because it is
very difficult and I shared this before
I mean I had a car um Child Care wasn't
very far from my house I also had
someone come in and help when my
youngest was uh still a
toddler um so I mean I was very
fortunate and very privileged um for
that but um most people aren't that
fortunate and um and the way things are
today people don't have a choice but to
to to work every adult in the in that
household is working and children are
left alone so um if we could get those
stats if you could them to us or do
another presentation on that that would
be great um and I would like to As a
matter of policy
um you know just like to attract uh put
that as a uh an ask or maybe a
requirement if you want a business in
our city you have to provide in-house
child care and um because some of our
businesses as we've we've we've spoken
about this before would be in the West
Industrial Park uh area right and that's
not really accessible I mean even on a
bus there's no public transportation
that goes out there so those are the
issues that that I see and um and we
really have to take care of our children
absolutely May yes thank you mayor PM uh
councilor FLOTUS I think the more that
we can continue to work with our local
Chambers of Commerce and our businesses
to find out how we can partner to
address that issue the better served our
residents will be absolutely great and D
cc is a big help too yes they are great
thank you very much Miss farra thank you
Madame chair thank you councel ples
count
L thank you um thank you so much Irene I
continue to be
profoundly um impressed and grateful for
our economic development team um thank
you for this very thorough and
thoughtful presentation I really
appreciated it um
I
oh gosh where do I start okay I'm just
so impressed by all of these programs I
think from the very beginning when we
received this huge arpa allocation it
was just a huge opportunity for our
community I really was of the belief
that how do we make it go the furthest
with the most
impact and I love all five projects and
I am curious about the taking this
million and sort of dividing it up into
these five projects
and I'm by no means saying let's maybe
focus on a couple and fund them more
because I feel like you've done your
research but can we have that
conversation a little bit can we just
talk about your thought process in terms
of these five because I'm sort of here
like with the tension of oh my God
they're so incredible and how do we not
dilute this money and make it go the
furthest that it can and if you feel
like these F that it funding these five
projects is that then I'm all for it I
do just want to open up that
conversation sure mayor Pam councelor
mom I do appreciate that question and
that was definitely um questions that we
were asking in the very beginning we
were looking forward to the opportunity
to work with bitwise and to help their
PR apprenticeship program be a success
um when this opportunity came back to us
we were also very grateful that we not
only felt like there was one program
that could do some good but that there
were several and that there was not just
one partner that we could be working
with to make an impact there were
several and that in the larger scope we
would be making a larger impact by
trying to create more programming to
assist more
residents in doing so in identifying
these very specific programs we were
also very mindful that the participants
of all of these programs could also
benefit from the others right so those
that were participating in the
transitional job training training
program could also benefit from the
child care programs could also benefit
for the apprenticeship programs so there
was we were very mindful that they would
also be very complimentary of one
another and so I think the idea of
wanting to maintain the five in total um
that was really the the driving force
for us was we could see that they would
be working collectively and and and
complimentary with one another I hope
that answers your question oh it totally
does yeah no I feel I think I just
mainly wanted to get like a I I feel
like you're very confident that these
five this is a good use of this million
dollars um so that's sort of what I was
trying to get at to ease my own internal
tension I do want to just ask you the
two first programs number one and number
two in our packets are incredibly well
thought out and so I'm just curious have
you just been working on these a little
bit longer than the other three because
I just I mean you have on here like
estimated total number of clients served
um it's like very thorough and the other
three are still pretty thorough but not
as much as the first two sure uh mayor
proam counselor benom I appreciate that
question yes the first two programs I've
actually been researching for over a
year now um to see how we could fund
them internally so when this funding
came up I these were the first two at
the top of my list um that's not to say
that the other programs um would not be
ready um to go as early as January 1 um
the partners is very confident based on
their knowledge and expertise that we
would be able to do that I see some
Partners in the back just going like
this so um I appreciate again the
further confidence in um honestly my
questions are simply just to be even
more impressed with you all because it
seems like um you've really thought this
out so I really really appreciate it
thank you um I guess my last question a
couple of last questions um perhaps even
given the the last 6 ,000 I'm curious
about like marketing how are we going to
make sure that the people that need to
hear about this are hearing about these
opportunities number one and then number
two I'll just throw both of them at you
when do you when can we expect an update
a report back from some of these so we
definitely um wanted to make sure that
we had a bit of cushion so that 60,000
will definitely help with any marketing
that we're going to be doing there's
going to be cross promotion also with
all the different partners in involved
again because these comp these part
these programs are all very
complimentary it's not going to hurt to
promote one over the other I think um
clients can benefit from all of them so
having more individuals involved in the
promotion of that um also working with
our counselors to help promote it with
their constituents and their districts
uh we're also hoping to leverage um your
connections as well um in terms of
coming back uh could you clarify your
question um in far as when would you
expect the first time you report back to
the Council on any of the particular
projects so hoping to launch these
programs January 2024 um and depending
on the the length of time for the
different programs there'll be periodic
updates on there'll be evaluations
taking place especially on the new
programs so there'll be regular updates
being provided um as often as council is
hoping to receive them okay I like I
have more question but only because you
made me think of one I am I had just
read some stuff about Potential
clawbacks from the federal government on
unspent arpa dollars is have you looked
into that is the this timeline still
within we we would still be able to
allocate those funds for within that
timeline absolutely yes okay great and
the last thing I'll say I just um and
this is just one story but I've just
never forgotten it and it was um I was
invited to participate in this listening
session with Hardin de losos and their
um Family Prosperity um program and
there was this one mom who was talking
about you know she said I I haven't been
able to finish my GED in years because I
had multiple jobs jobs and sometimes I
can't get child care for my kids and so
like it's just taken me such a long time
to finish and she was talking about it
like from a place of Shame and I just I
have never that happened like a couple
of years ago and I've never forgotten
that because I think
um I'm certain it's not the experience I
I'm certain it's the experience of many
many women but um especially caretakers
in our community so I really do
appreciate the thought that you put into
these programs Irene and the rest of the
team thank you thank
you thank you councelor B Mo coun coun
thank you mayor protm thank you so much
for the presentation um was doing some
reading this morning and realizing
Workforce Development training is such
is such a huge task and I just read
something that I hadn't thought of that
we are trying to train people for jobs
that we don't even know exist yet
because the way that technology is
changing so quickly it's not just trying
to predict the sorts of jobs we already
know about we're trying to make people
ready to flex and adapt with an economy
and a world and a technology landscape
that is just so malleable so I really
appreciate um I appreciate the nuts and
bolts put into this um one question on
Project one
um make you flip back through a lot of
slides
um so this one is definitely a little
more open than the others um in terms of
it's not tied to any specific industry
and I I'm not quibbling with that is
there a possibility of working with
local employers um to create programs
where we know we have jobs waiting
because I'm just from my other gig you
know some of the best scenarios are an
employer tells you exactly what what
they're looking for you help the person
get those exact skills and they
transition seamlessly into a job at the
end um do we have any ideas for
Partnerships on that mayor proam council
Graham yes and I thank you for that
question we have been in conversation um
with different businesses from the
community um we've been communicating
with our Chambers of Commerce um we were
just really sort of waiting for the
green light to be able to say we're
ready to do this to be able to bring
them into the fold but there are a
number of opportunities within this
program that we are going to be inviting
businesses to participate um either on
panel discussions to be able to talk
about what the culture is within that
particular industry or their particular
business providing opportunities for
networking as well as even job shadowing
so we are absolutely wanting to make
sure that that's going to be a primary
component of this
program okay wonderful exactly what I
would have wanted to hear and also to
hear you talking about the culture of
workplaces I think I think soft skills
is now like a outdated term I hear like
21st century skills now but um again I
think anything that
can make make the programming specific
to workplaces and work cultures that
folks are going to transition to locally
is all the better and then finally not a
question but more of just uh using my
Soap Box up here
um thank you thank you mayor
protm um you know we hear we hear a lot
about um you know what we probably hear
the most about up here is is crime the
problems in our city and what are we
doing what are we doing what are we
doing this is what we're doing these
kind of programs dealing with root cause
I'm going to borrow a phrase from my
esteemed colleague addressing rootcause
problems with long-term Solutions but
also with short-term strategic
programming to make folks lives better
right now and thank you for being a part
of of that thank you thank you mayor
proam thank you councelor gram councelor
baa thank you mayor protm and thank you
so much uh for all these projects and I
do like uh that you looked at it really
in a holistic way as we know during coid
uh a lot all the kids were sent home I
was one who had three kids including a
kindergartener at the time and what I
found in that Community is a lot of
individuals had to leave the workforce
or adapt in different ways and change
their whole career trajectory getting
back into things has been very difficult
for a lot of people and in particular
women who oftentimes had the greater
bdom of that child care issue um and so
I like looking at that that we're
addressing um and making sure we're
hoping not only with just uh larger
institutions for child care but more of
the at home facilities and I'm hoping
this will give rise to uh care
facilities that look at um
non-traditional hours for child care to
so that we're looking at um overnight
type cares or evenings that way we can
address different types of Workforce as
we're growing that too um and I want to
ask really um do we have any plans on
any sort of the long-term tracking of
like business retention like how after
we do this training looking back in
another five years um seeing if these
businesses are able to say sustainable
absolutely uh mayor PM uh councelor ba I
appreciate that question part of the
programming for especially the pilot
programs are going to have that followup
component um not only just with over a
fiveyear period book within the first
year we want to be going back to these
businesses and these employers to find
out what the successes have been because
again we want to make these permanent so
we want to find out what's working and
what's not and to be able to adjust
where necessary that's great thank you
um and even I would say for the drop
training programs to see how many
individuals uh stayed in the uh
profession that they went into that was
based on the training or to see if they
had to transition to something else
absolutely thank you thank you very much
and thank you mayor pro thank you
councelor AA okay I want to um speak to
the first project okay and the mention
of personal um I guess almost like treat
I'm going to talk Social Work terms
treatment plan kind of a case manager
who have you identified as the agency to
do that or will it be in internal to DAC
it'll be internal to DAC but also
partnering with the organizations whose
clients we've already identified would
be a good fit so it's going to be um a
multiple right so whatever DCC can
address with them they're not already
receiving with their their nonprofit
organization or assistance through the
new mexic Workforce Connection office we
will ensure that they are receiving that
support that they need specific to their
needs okay um and then I wanted to move
into the childcare provider the M the
micr grant program yes and then the
child care accelerator program something
that's really near and dear to me given
my experience in the in the Child
Welfare Arena right and why this is so
important to reduce um um child abuse
and neglect and and unfortunately
sometimes we lose kids to
um well people who are not fit right um
to to take care of children I think
parents are finding themselves single
parents especially you know I need to
work but I'm going to leave my child
with this individual who maybe they have
not you know know too well and have sort
of the the the training if you will
absolutely and and so this is really
important to me and and I know and I'm
probably getting too much in the weeds
but I think I said um more specifically
at our H our policy Review Committee
that I feel really strongly that um we
have Partners in community that have
been working on this for a number of
years engage partnership being one of
them and I know um I see Dr winer's in
the in the audience and would really
like to hear from her and a number of
them about how they plan to sort of move
through this I think this is of all of
them all of them are important but this
to me is is something that we've been
working on decades right we know what
the numbers are we know that there is
more house um programming than there is
um child care right like bricks in
Mortar if you will um but and and
they've had a real difficult time but we
also know that we don't pay them enough
money right and so I just want to I want
to know what those thoughts are about
how we're going to move in the in the
direction of trying to mitigate some of
these some of these issues is it going
to be I noticed you have some outcomes
that have been listed here
around um staff and clients and how many
will be inhouse how many will be um
Child Care sort of centers if you will I
wonder if those things have been have
been thought out and and and really I
don't see engage here but I I think that
is they've been doing this for years
they're Collective impact model that and
have have seen such wonderful results
they already have the programming in
place or not so much the programming in
place but the infrastructure in place
and the research
done may I that was a lot I sorry I went
on a bit of a tangent that's okay that's
okay um so mayor Pam in in talking to
members from the um Coalition um there
is a wealth of information I'm still
learning from them um they've been in
the trenches for years like you said and
they are the experts on the ground when
we were talking about the business
accelerator program in particular one
thing that kept coming up was not just
wanting to provide information on how to
operate and facilitate a child care
center but how to provide quality care
and what that looks like even for those
who currently have a registered business
or a licensed Center what does quality
Care look like um but especially for
those registered providers which are the
home care providers um the abas and the
theas that are taking care of kids you
know what does that look like and if
they've never really received that kind
of training you know putting kids in the
living room in front of the TV to go and
cook dinner or to go cook lunch that's
actually something that they really
shouldn't be doing that's not to say
they're doing it to purposely endanger
the child but understanding what quality
Care looks like is what this problem is
going to help them understand and so
leveraging the expertise of those
members from the Coalition that are
helping to develop this program are
really going to take that that issue
into consideration is providing that
quality care and encouraging that to be
the standard across the board for
providers here in doniana county and the
city of Las Cruses I'm not sure who is
here hear did you want to hear from I
from folks I think it important
hi hello hi um Angela Garcia I actually
own the toy box Early Learning Centers
here in town and I'm actually the
president of Full Circle which is an
advocacy and Community um Service Group
here in Southern New Mexico so we met
Miss Irene and were um introduced to
this project more recently um and with
that particular focus in mind of how do
we ensure quality um a lot of our
members are home providers and you know
a lot of them don't have um information
or resources that allow them to have
specific trainings or have specific
supports within their homes um to be
able to ensure quality programs are
existing within their programs they are
crucial to the the infrastructure of
child care um I I think uh City
councelor ABA mentioned it earlier um
having that outside hour care having
those smaller ratios that's really
important when you're talking about a
center like mine um you know some
children could be overstimulated in a in
a bigger group you know so these are
very important parts to our um overall
holistic approach of child care however
they are often um don't have as much
access to different resources or
different quality trainings um different
things that we do at
so it is the hope for us to join um the
the city in partnering on that specific
issue of quality how can we help support
them at home so we can support the
children in their
programs thank you and then how are we
dress addressing because I know there's
such a need and a lack of quality Care
um like the graveyard shift right and
and that seems to be uh
ever uh um right issue that I know that
you're experiencing and I mean who wants
to do that during graveyard right but
it's it's necessary so I and the swing
shift that's true yes so I I'm I'm
really particularly interested in in
hearing um what maybe um is some thought
around that Irene or whoever wants to
answer that I'm so sorry I mayor part
time I was talking to about could you
repeat that my apologies just more about
the um providing child care in sort of
those different hours non-traditional
hours right like um swing shift and um
um graveyard ship so mayor Pam part of
the programming um or the structure of
the programming is going to be focusing
on two main specific um Target U
populations first it's those established
registered home providers right to help
them really try to fine-tune how they're
they're operating their centers but the
second is also for those aspiring
entrepreneurs who are interested in
starting um a program to help them
understand where that need is and where
the gaps are and to maybe look to
consider um to build their their
programs around those areas where we
don't have as many that are meeting
those late hour needs that are over hour
needs um so that the program in general
is going to establish or to address the
needs that our our parents have in the
community so it's not just the 8 to
five provider it's helping them
understand that there's a need here and
if you're you're available um if you
have the resources to do it um this is
where we need you to fill that need for
our community
not at all if I can share a personal
experience so I opened the toy box 2 off
of Road Runner um in 2019 it was my
intention to have a 24-hour child care
center um because of the need in our
community unfortunately when we were
building we had some issues with um they
were going to require me to have a
$30,000 um fire sprinkler system thing
installed because I now was going to be
considered something other than child
care it was something overnight I wasn't
quite sure exactly but I'll be honest I
couldn't afford it so I couldn't do it
um so I think that would be great to
address some of those things in these
conversations of barriers to providing
these overnight um care for providers
like myself even um you know while we're
creating capacity in homes that's very
crucial but it could be um greater
capacities if we could come get the
barriers down for a lot of providers
that might want to do it in a bigger
setting I appreciate that it's really um
thoughtful I I didn't know that piece
and I think that's a great um thing to
to um remember as we move forward
appreciate that very much and then I
want to hear from our our folks from
Jeff W and others in terms of what what
is the thought there um Irene related to
um the programming and transportation
and I know he's been working the the
group has been working quite a bit on
that and I want to give him an
opportunity to
speak um good afternoon counselor gandra
Pro Tim gandra I'm Jeff W I'm one of the
career Specialists with the ace team and
I brought
with no no no no
no no no no I'm over don't be shy you're
going to see a lot of them just so you
guys know now we'll just let the whole
city know I'm retiring in December so
they're they're my
Replacements come on they don't seem too
excited right now but we're good I just
told them earlier today I said hey we're
going to a city counselor kind of work
session
today what so yes we're good though so
we talked we've talked we've talked
about it a few times um the kind of the
hard part is January 1 I'll be honest
with you finding kids right now that
don't have cars that aren't in our
program is kind of hard because
it's it's they're they're in they're in
the middle of a schedule so it's it's
it's not like the university we now we
go into the second semester and everyone
goes and red do a schedule they're
they're in they're locked in whether
it's physics it's all year so we're
trying to identify those kids that's
that's our main thing right now if it
was the beginning of the year there's
hundreds of these kids there's I mean
there's there's not it's impactful as
you guys know across the county it's
it's getting kids to experiences getting
them to jobs I know that's kind of what
I've heard about about everything is
getting them there um that's what we're
looking at so I think a couple of our
Focus that we kind of talked about you
have an amazing guy working for the city
his name is Ryan steitz I I he's amazing
he is he is like the greatest thing for
us um because we work together and and
we work through some of those problems
that that we've had through going
through it's just been great so in my
mind what I would like to see is that
group of kids kind of dropped off down
here at City Hall and then moved around
through City departments here but also
all the way over to the fire department
with with with Chief Smith's group and
see with because he's taken six kids
three kids this year but usually at six
we're kind of down a little bit but then
all the way through the downtown mall
because I know and Chris was working
with downtown partnership we had a lot
of kids working all through there so I
would think this would be one Hub where
there would be a little bit of more
support because that's kind of what
we're looking for is kids need support
someone a mentor to say Hey you know
maybe you should do this so I think
that's a big part of what we're looking
at in the initial phases and in the next
phase it is working with the hospitals
and that's why Mr Olas is here because
and and Miss N I forgot to introduce you
oh God that's awful that's Mr ogas and
he does a lot of our medical placements
and Miss Rachel Knight she does a lot of
our a placements and she'll oversee
she's kind of replacing me she's going
to oversee kind of the whole thing um
but getting kids to the hospital is to
be CNAs before they graduate we want
kids to be EAS before they graduate from
high school so then that way they enter
and become a teacher just like anything
else I know we've worked with the
civilian Patrol and doing some of those
summer summer um police officer things I
know we have a bunch of those so we're
trying to build those up so the goal of
our program is to not just graduate but
graduate ready to work and what we've
noticed and I Know It kind of ties in
what she talked about is and I know that
you see the ones without with without a
degree not getting paid as much over
time what we're noticing is that if they
come out with a skill they're going to
go to the next step they don't stop but
if they don't start with a skill then
they just don't know know what the next
step is so what our thing is is exposing
them I know that Mr ogust currently has
two students in the pharmacy tech
program at msia Valley um Pharmacy we're
trying to find the local ones that can
work with our kids the local businesses
are the lifeline to Ace so that's why I
would say dropping them off here and
dispersing them in this area would would
be very helpful to us so that kind of
answer that part you did awesome I love
the detail thank you on on Friday just
so everyone knows you're all invited at
the at the mall we're having our build
my future event and I don't know if
that's gotten out a lot that is a
Hands-On job fair so we'll have 800
students from 500 from lcps but we've
invited Silver City hatch and gadston
and they will come and the contractors
do the work and with the kids so they
actually learn and see what that job
fair looks like our kids are encouraged
to bring resumés because they're hiring
so there's courage to talk to talk to
contractors and find out what that next
step is so that's Friday the 13th at the
mall 9 to
two Miss valy Mall miss valy m okay all
right yes ma'am all right that's great
thank you so much thank you does anybody
else want to say behind you
anything okay they don't talk they don't
talk they're gonna have to thank you
thank youate you Irene and then the last
question is that I brought up is an
evaluation component like how do we know
that this is working how are we um um
you know because people will ask you
given a million dollar to these programs
how do we know that um we're improving
skill sets sub Skilling th those sorts
of things what are you prepared to tell
me I hope something great mayor Ram I'm
actually gonna let Chris feel that
question hello everyone Chris favor
again so um my apologies I just got a
thing in my eye um so I've been talking
with leand deushi and finance to on this
component and I believe yep there she is
back there so um in our discussions it
didn't seem like funds for evaluation
could come out of the arpa funds
directly so we've been looking for other
paths to fund um these evaluation
sources so we're we're looking working
together on that piece to not only
provide some more um in-depth evaluation
of this program but potentially other um
arper programs as well so we're we're
looking for the funding for that and
then trying to identify what that looks
like um since the last edpc um I did
reach out to someone at NMSU that does
do evaluations and got a rough estimate
for what it would cost to do this so
we're trying to look to see if we could
find funds that would not only cover
that but potentially some of these other
ones so it's it's a separate
conversation from this specific funding
item but we're we're definitely
exploring those options as well yeah I
appreciate the you know um doing the
research to um have that prepared for us
today I I think it's so important
because if you want and I heard word
sustain right sustain these projects
moving forward I really feel that we
need to be able to show right that um
we've made a difference um in a variety
of ways and not just like number of
clients I mean I think there we need
enough qualitative quantitative
information that I bet the
Beck would appreciate because they do
that kind of work we all would but I I
just often I I get frustrated that we
don't have sort of that at our
fingertips and um um and we get we get a
lot of pressure up here as to um why are
you spending money on this and you know
poverty and crime and I truly believe
and I won't get on my Soap Box because
Becky concer pram did a very good job of
explaining I feel I feel this is yeah
there is I mean I I just feel this is
the way this is the way in conjunction
with our lift up program and scaling
that out um we're very committed to
addressing poverty and this is the way
to do it and we know these are all the
elements that will play a huge part
moving forward so um appreciate you both
very much um and everybody that came
today um is there any other questions
just mayor prend I have one more thing I
wanted to add go ahead I'm sorry I just
have one more question but you go first
go ahead Chris uh go ahead Chris May
proam I just wanted to point out too
that through the administrative funds
that were set aside when we received
arpa funds that Finance is hiring
someone that's going to work directly on
oversight within the city staff on these
particular programs so there will be
that Staffing component that will be
working directly um on these grants
oversight and evaluations and and that
component uh in addition to anything
else that we we end up bringing on board
as
well it's good to know and then
councelor bomo thank you mayor pm thank
you both again
yeah just a couple of questions that
sort of popped up while U my colleagues
were asking their own question thank you
um mayor Pam Gander and I recently met
with the New Mexico Restaurant
Association who I think you know if you
haven't been in Communications with them
about this would be a good partner as
well you know they did mention to us
that they were having a really hard time
you know hiring folks after the pandemic
you know in the hospitality sector and
so just wondering where um those
conversations are and if you've had them
in relation to any of these programs yes
thank you mayor proam councelor Boma I
have um and there's a couple of um areas
that we're looking at working in
partnership with them the first is they
expressed an interest in creating a
separate uh apprenticeship program
specifically for their industry um they
really want to build long-term career
opportunities um for our residents
rather than just um you know a minimum
wage or less a minimum wage paying job
they want to keep folks here and want to
pay them a level wage um the second we
did mention this program to them um and
asking them uh once we get the green
light to be one of those Partners one of
those business partners to participate
in it um to be willing to allow for job
Shing opportunities to be able to um to
talk about the culture of what it is to
work in their industry so we've
definitely had those conversations with
them and they are very interested okay
great that's that's really important and
I think I don't mean to get too
political about some of these things
either but I sometimes I feel like um
for those of us who are proponents of
higher minimum wage and sometimes uh
child care facilities and restaurants we
don't always see eye to eye on these
kinds of things so I do also wonder how
we better navigate those conversations
in terms of well-paying jobs paid sick
leave those kinds of things mayor proam
uh councel Moma those have been part of
the questions um and conversations that
we've been asking of them if they if
they are interested in long-term um
sustainability of the of a
Workforce they need to there needs to be
a wage that allows them to do that right
um and so they're talking about um you
know through the pre-apprenticeship
program to create um credentials um and
certifications that will allow the
justification for an increase in wage
right so they're definitely interested
in having those conversations now and
we're taking full advantage of that okay
thank you and then just the last thing I
wanted to flag from that meeting we had
with them one of the restaurant owners
talked about um something they've had a
lot of success with was hiring folks who
are re-entering citizens so re-entering
after being incarcerated for a long time
and you know the biggest piece of
avoiding reism is having a job and
housing and so I just do want to flag
that I think there's a segment of the
population that should have also a focus
as we're talking about you know like
single parents or low-income folks that
folks who are re-entering I think is
also an important population to consider
yes mayor pend uh councelor bomo the
transitional job training program um is
the program that we're hoping to expand
um to include those individuals that we
know would definitely benefit from that
training and that that demographic has
been part of the conversation awesome
thank you also I totally agree about
Ryan Stein thank
you councelor pus thank you Madame chair
and um the re-entry U as aspect deoe did
a study on people I were were you there
we were there yes yeah yeah so um let's
see it's um people who have been
trafficked um the most unemployable
people and I thought women My Little
Brown face isn't going to get employed
and I was really surprised to hear that
it was not that it was um was it it was
people who are trafficked people who
have been in prison and um I can't I
always forget the third one but there
were three that were really a surprise
to me and they're not employable because
they don't have a resume yeah and um so
that's something to for employers to
look at too to to determine you know
their Workforce or to you know to give
people a break yes so um I don't know if
that's been in you know within the uh
perview of what we're going after here
but I think those are factors that
definitely have to be addressed yes
mayor protm councelor florides I
couldn't agree with you more uh and I
was actually looking for that the
handout that they provided um because I
do feel like they would benefit from not
just the transitional job training
program but others as well so they they
are definitely on the radar oh wonderful
yes thank you so much thank you and
thank you Chris as well thank you
councelor flus any other questions on
the diets anybody have any feedback out
on the
audience yes please make your way down
and state your
name good afternoon I am Gentry Roberts
I'm the executive director of the
southern New Mexico apprenticeship
program the electrical trade school I
did want to just include a little bit on
the electrical trade school and the the
rip Preen absolutely we're happy that
you're here Brian Eichelberger is um our
current board president but also one of
our contractor and Employers in the city
um so just to give you a little
background uh we are of the other
four-year program um partnering with the
Ace Program is a great opportunity for
us as well really want to create that
exposure um pre-apprenticeship is a
major buzzword right now um especially
in the public schools trying to get the
trades exposed at the public school
level um really trying to introduce that
so we have a lot of great opportunities
at IEC level um like Irene had mentioned
we're one of over 50 chapters Nationwide
so we've got a national curriculum we
run off of the national electrical code
and we do a lot of the training there um
with with that being said uh
pre-apprenticeship would be huge in the
public schools in in just introducing a
lot of um this conversation about the
Hands-On the
um curriculum that we have as far as um
introduction into tool identification
and usage material usage and
identification in those in those sectors
we are electrical specific but that
doesn't necessarily mean that it can't
go across um you know hand inand across
the trades so it would be a great start
and a great opportunity so we appreciate
this and the opportunity to be here
would you like to add sure she
volunteered me for it I really wasn't
planning on anything but uh I I think
please state your name for the record
Brian eberg
yeah I appreciate that you can yes and
the podium if you like it's a button to
the side there you go that's fantastic
yeah you must had a great electrician
installed
that that you play that was very
nice um so I I think I'm in a good
position to speak to a lot of the things
that I've heard uh that are concerns uh
for from all of you um number one I get
to see very closely the difference that
these programs make for young men and
women young people um and older people
uh those re-entering as well um I
personally have uh been able to hire
probably over the last several years um
I would say a dozen or more uh people
who have been in prison have come back
out uh then get their journeyman's
license now they have families now they
are are a very beneficial part of the
community and have turned their lives
completely around thanks to uh this
nonprofit organization which is about
education the trades uh there's a lot of
different trades out there uh that all
could benefit from this and I'd like to
see them benefit as well not just the
electrical trade in itself um and the
trades in general just getting the
attention that they deserve uh because
it's a good honest living that that
these people are then able to add
something to not just their own lives
but those around them um it plays
perfectly hand inand with what uh I hope
the city of Los cruus will continue to
do which is to to build an economy that
that our young people can then be a part
of and that can continue to thrive and
then continue to refuel these same
things over and over um and just uh I
can't say enough good things I
personally went through the
apprenticeship program myself right out
of high school um my son who's about to
graduate he'll be he'll be doing the
same thing so that's that's that's a
testament to how much I believe in him
my brother who went through it is now
electrical engineer um so it's a great
jumping off point as mentioned it leads
to so many other good things and so
we appreciate you considering us for
this and we are are are very hopeful
that that we can utilize These funds in
the best way possible for our
community thank you so much I mean it's
been eight years ago we we put together
an apprenticeship Pro or it was a part
of council's priority right and we
started with our water tech program at
utilities and it's been a great a a
great opportunity so I'm so thankful
that we have the money to be able to do
that but I while um Leanne and Grant's
people I think it's so important that we
um look at other other grant
opportunities right to expand this and I
see um Leanne put her her um thumbs up
it's an important thing we need to we
need to keep our our youth here our
students here we train them up and they
leave for better paying jobs and I I'm I
think we're all very committed to this
so thank you for being here both of you
anybody else do I see any
hello my name is Jerome
Hanway um I Am The Apprentice coordin I
had to lower it
because I Am The Apprentice program
coordinator for the state for southern
New Mexico so we're partnering with uh
Irene to make this happen and the other
in the school district and the uh IEC
school so we're very excited about the
program and um to talk about one other
thing before where you were mentioning
Miss fla about the uh doing resumés and
building all that for re entry uh
Workforce does that we offer those uh
services for free right now when any uh
you know we we we call them Justice
involved come to our services we we
actually cater to them and help them
because they're one of our most at risk
so we definitely Tred to do that um we
also Bond and ensure uh the federal you
know um not just Federal but any justice
involved will ensure them so they can go
back into the workforce um there's also
tax breaks for for individuals that hire
those individuals so there are programs
already set up that we do offer every
day um for for justice involved for
veterans so we do those programs already
through the state so those are things
that we're definitely excited about you
know especially with Irene that we're we
try to partner you know some of these
programs are probably aren't very
familiar or recognized by anybody so
through our partnership with the city
we're definitely trying to expand that
and uh push so we can push that the
community so they can understand that as
well thank you so much Mr Drome for
being here and for your comments I thank
you for reminding um us about our
veterans I know my son was able to go
into Workforce um Connections in
Albuquerque and he had this long resume
and they're like it's kind of long you
might want it and they helped them
through you know and it was a great
service and he was able to land a a a
good job so I I think it it and and they
paid special attention to our to the
veterans right he's a veteran so I I
think that's another Irene population
that we definitely want to um see um our
veterans because it's so hard to to um
leave you know the military and come
back into um the public if you will the
community it it's it's a whole different
scenario and there's so many of our
veterans that are are suffering from
postpartum postpartum depression um
depression and Trauma and whatnot and I
think it makes it um a little more
difficult right to um I don't know why I
have baby in the brain what what is that
I don't get it I said postpartum
depression oh and we all go yeah
postpartum I meant depression PTSD PTSD
thank you yes yes anyway so um but I
appreciate that that's it's another um
cohort that we should definitely um be
paying attention to very much so
appreciate it Mr drone all right thank
you you were talking about your
son probably because I want him to have
a baby
grandchild I hope not but anyway hi good
afternoon mayor Pro term and Council my
name is nuia Martinez I think I'm going
to pull this up a little bit can you
guys hear me good okay so my name is
niia Martinez I am the housing director
at laasa so as I was
very pleased to hear this so one of our
performance is to make sure within our
temporary housing is that we can find um
them employment because it is temporary
it's only up to 24 months so helping our
survivors of domestic violence um their
their housing has changed due to
domestic violence they do go into our
shelters they also um provide
non-residential services but our housing
and our job is to be able to get them
stabilized in their own housing so we do
help them with that and I know there's a
huge need for project one especially to
for our projects and for our survivors
to become successful and be able to
maintain their own housing so that is
what I wanted to say I look forward to
it I know that the stiens is going to be
something that our um survivors are
going to really benefit from it we're
looking at some barriers sometimes that
they have um I we talked about possibly
when their car breaks down that stiping
would be really good for them and be
able to attain and maintain their job so
I'm really looking forward to it and
pleased to be able to work in this
project with them um and I know our like
I mentioned to be able to work in this
project with them um and I know our like
I mentioned our survivors will benefit
from it thank you so much for being here
and we appreciate you just mentioning
our our um survivors yeah another yet
another cohort of people absolutely
thank you thank you anybody
else Hi
D mayor proam counselors uh I was a
little hesitant to come up here because
Iran's presentation was so awesome I
didn't want to ruin the quality of it
but uh let me just say I I think um I
think the way the Ed staff presented
this is very prudent it looks at a lot
of different challenges that are out
there um it looks at a lot of different
opportunities to meet those challenges
so it really diversifies the dollars and
I just think it's a smart approach
overall and and I think it hits the
three things we talk about on a regular
basis that are challenges with the
workforce it's higher wages it's how do
we uh create more more opportunities to
get rid of the impediment of joining the
workforce and quite frankly just
councelor Graham as you said and we're
dealing with this on every conversation
it seems like with the manufacturer is
dealing with the jobs of the future and
what they actually mean and what they
require and in many cases industry is
still trying to figure that out right
now um and it's interesting what we talk
to manufacturers about especially within
Advanced manufacturing there's a unique
opportunity um although there are
technical skills required I think the
real opportunity is they also tell us at
the same time time they just need people
who are in a position to want to work
and learn because they're dealing with
equipment that no one has ever worked on
in the world before so whether you have
an engineering degree or you're just out
of high school they're willing to train
as well as long as you're willing to
learn and I think those are some
opportunities that um might be um you
know once in generational time that
we're going to see these things and I
don't know where things went array but I
I will tell you just from a personal
thing I remember my mom was an
administrative assistant at Albuquerque
High School I was four years old and she
used to drop us off um me and my brother
at a care facility at the school I don't
know what happened to that and when we
talk about Workforce and I started
asking about those things no one seems
to have a memory uh councelor Floy as
you talked about you know companies
having onsite care facilities 20 years
ago when I first got into economic
development at the state level we there
was a program out there that encourage
incentivize companies to open in-house
facilities uh I don't know what happened
to that either and um I ask about that
those who might have a memory of it and
no one seems to do so anyway and we used
to have trades programs right in in high
school and kids would graduate with with
uh with certain skill sets that they
could take I don't know what happened to
all these but we need to get back to
them and I think this is an approach to
really find out what's going to work
here and then you know double down on
that after that we we'll find out which
of these programs really shines and
which really work for our community but
I think it's the opportunity to learn
discover and grow from it so thank you
very much thanks so much Devon I
remember what was it two or three years
ago sitting in a meeting with you
speaking to child care and sort of what
the possibilities um could be if we had
child care in you know settings uh like
this the city county um these big
manufacturing these companies and such
and and look at here we are I just I
just think it's an opportunity to really
explore and and um kind of shoot for the
you know there's no limit I think it's
it's really really yeah shoot for the
stars as concer fla said I I it's a
really cool opportunity for us and to
really be Innovative and creative in the
way we're we're looking at at at this
and I I'll just say to me
demographically um
um you know we have a lot of single
mamas in this city and um they're
struggling and I'd really like to see
you know more female electricians and
you know sort of um um you know building
our child care I think industry is super
important and particularly around paying
them you know what they where I mean
they do so much to um prepare our kids
um and I I I'm the recipient of that and
they they took care of my kids in ways
you know while I worked and I always
knew that they were being taking um good
care of and they learned such valuable
skills you know there and they do such
amazing work and so we should pay them
you know their worth and so anyway um
thanks ston anybody else Miss Mary I
you're moving around in your chair I'm
so
glad how are how are you I haven't seen
you in a while yes I'm good thank you
good
good um so my name is Mary ol um doniana
Community College and I just wanted to I
really bad at doing things like this but
here I am and I just wanted to say that
as a a member of the community or as a
representative of the college I wanted
to thank the city for the partnership
because I think we're making a lot of
strides and uh I recently got back from
a Workforce Development conference on uh
National Council for Workforce
education and we are well represented
there I mean the programs that people
are talking about are these programs and
so it's really nice to see that we're in
a peer group that um we can present I
presented and I talked about our program
I also like to see
how the city is really um
expanding efforts for a term uh
educational opportunities for a term
that I learned and I introduce it to you
all the new majority learner we always
talk about non-traditional students at
the college level but really
non-traditional students are the
majority of our uh students and so so
there's a term New Majority Learners are
single parents they are Justice involved
individuals veterans people with
disabilities so that's who we're serving
and we're DAC is is proud to be a member
thank you thanks so much Mary for all
your work we go back a long ways and I
appreciate all that you do in Workforce
I really do thank you okay anybody else
okay seeing n I'm oh sorry I do want to
say say that councelor um um Corin is
not here today because a good portion of
the funding is going possibly to DAC and
she felt it was a conflict and so I I
was remiss in not saying that earlier
and so that's why she's not on the dis
this afternoon
counselor Graham did you want to say
something is that oh it it seems that
councelor Boma was going to make the
same note that you all very good thank
you than you so
I great work session Irene thank you so
much for your presentation Chris for the
work that you all are doing on this this
is a huge lift but a very important one
so we appreciate you so much thank you
EPO um yes clap clap um when can we
expect this to come to council uh mayor
proam thank you for that question we
hope to come back uh next month November
6th to present this in the form of a
resolution so we can get this uh get
this going great Irene thank you so much
I need a motion
toour second motion made by flotes
second by councelor AA
Christine this is on the motion to
adjourn the work session councelor
AA councelor
Graham yes councelor benl yes councelor
cran is absent councelor
flutes yes mayor proam yes and mayor is
absent
question
know
are
Pro
this is the agenda setting U memo for
October 16 2023 Christine you ready yep
one non-consent one non-consent two
non-consent two non-consent three
consent three consent four nonconsent
four non-consent five non-consent five
non-consent six consent six consent
seven consent seven consent eight
non-consent eight
non-consent
dist
are