Speaker 1: San Antonio is a fast growing fast moving community with something new happening every day.

And that's why each week we go on the record with the Newsmakers who are driving this change.

Then we gather at the reporters round table to talk about the latest news stories with the journalists behind those stories.

Join us now, as we go on, Speaker 2: Welcome to on the record.

I'm TJ maze.

As the virus continues at spread equitable, vaccine distribution is essential Councilwoman VA ground, and some of her colleagues open new clinics on the South and West sides of San Antonio, where the virus has been most deadly Councilwoman.

Thank you for joining us.

Speaker 1: Thank you for having me TJ, glad to be here.

Speaker 2: You and a series of your colleagues at the council, women opened these clinics, trying to expand access to the vaccine.

What did you do?

Speaker 1: Well, you know, we knew months ago that as the vaccination was going to roll out that we couldn't leave the South side of San Antonio behind because districts three, four and five in particular were the most impacted by COVID-19.

So we knew that we had to make sure that they had access to the vaccinations.

We weren't very happy to see what UHS was doing at Wonderland mall, but then we knew that we had to get partners to have a master distribution site on the South side.

So starting on December 31st, uh, the council women, and I started on calls every single day, looking to see how we could get number one, the doses, and two partners and a location in order to get this up and running on the South side, we knew that Metro health was going to be working on something for the city at the Alamodome, but we could not leave the South side behind.

So, um, we worked day in and day out.

And as you all know, the state made a lot of changes every single day.

Um, so we had to make adjustments every day and we found a phenomenal partner in wellness who had the experience, had the resources and already was a trusted agent in the South side because of the centers like at the Lopez on the West side.

And at the on the South side, we got together, we are working together, George Hernandez with UHS connected us, and we were able to stand this up in a matter of days within about four days.

Speaker 2: So I think there's a lot of confusion about vaccination and the rollout.

I know it's been a very speedy process.

There's vaccination at the Wonderland mall, the Americans, I think that there was discussion of vaccination at the Alamodome and then also at the centers, is that correct?

Are there multiple vaccination clinics open at this point in time?

Speaker 1: So there are three, actually four sites now for mass distribution and reason we have to have it at four sites is because each of those sites have to own the doses.

That is the requirement from the state.

That is also a reason why we have to have different sign in portals because each of those locations have to own their own doses as required by the state.

So, um, each of those areas have their own sign-in portal.

And in particular, in the South side, because of equity, we wanted to make sure that we even the playing field for everyone, that's why we made sure it was phone only accessed to schedule an appointment.

Speaker 2: That's great.

I know that there has been some concern about so many people trying to access the system at once where systems are, are crashing.

Um, are there slots still available that any of these clinics, are we still waiting for more doses?

Speaker 1: All the sites are waiting for, um, the state to release our next batch of doses for these, uh, distribution centers.

So our clinics are answered by humans.

So you will talk to a person to set up your appointment and they will give you answers.

The problem that we were having was because we had such a great overwhelming number of calls, about 127,000 at once.

Um, and our operators, you know, just the overload to the system.

It took time.

And I know it was frustrating.

We had some individuals who called over 612 times to get through, but what our partners were doing is that they, all of those phone numbers were getting registered.

And if they saw individuals who had over 600 calls, over 300 calls, instilled in, get through what we were doing at the end of the night, we were seeing how many slots were available and then calling them back because all of that time and effort that they spent to call so many times and never get through.

Um, so you did see that that work happening and every day, you know, yesterday was just day number two.

So everyday we're improving our process to this whole rollout Speaker 2: Councilwoman via ground.

Thank you so much for your work on this and to expand, uh, vaccines and equitable way in our community.

We really appreciate it.

And thank you for joining us.

Speaker 1: Thank you.

Speaker 2: A new year, a new bear County commissioner's court, Trish to Barry is the new commissioner for precinct three, which includes the North side of bear County commissioner.

Thanks for being here.

Thank you.

Just yesterday.

We were filming on Wednesday just yesterday.

The first vote was for $2 million in excess of $2 million in overtime for bear County Sheriff's deputies.

You had a kind of a strong position on that.

What is your position on bear County?

Sheriff's deputy, we've got to get a handle on spending on the overtime associated with the jail.

I was elected to this office as a fiscal conservative, by the way.

It's great to be back here.

I appreciate the invitation.

So, um, it's a little awkward for me to be called commissioner.

Sometimes when people Do that, I look over my shoulder and say like, who are you talking to?

Because I'm youngest of six children and a rather informal household environment.

So that's kind of difficult to get used to that title, but, um, I'm going to have to get used to it, right?

But back to your original question regarding the jail, we can not continue to throw good money after bad.

Um, you know, I was glad to see that the judge weighed in with me on that conversation, um, uh, you know, regarding a professional jail administration, uh, we need to do things differently.

Um, I told, uh, the sheriff, when I was on the court yesterday, one of my statements was, look, I come from a crisis communications wheelhouse, right?

That's what I do for a living.

And I sense that you are suffering from a crisis and culture, morale and administration.

Um, I think it took a little bit of umbrage to the administration side, but look, I'm a small business person.

I can't continue to go to the bank and borrow money if I'm not doing things appropriately or right.

And so, you know, I don't want to be an obstructionist, but I want to be a solution finder, but you know, part of me voting no yesterday, even though I knew the votes were there was to send a statement and to say, we're not going to continue to do this.

Um, things have to change.

You know, I have talked about maybe it's time for jail administration to come back over to the court where it used to be.

Um, and maybe the job has gotten too big for one person.

And certainly I don't mean to suggest that that's privatization.

Uh, but I do think that there's some accountability associated with the court that we might bring to bear at the jail.

That would be helpful.

So right now the sheriff runs a law enforcement agency and runs the adult detention center.

You're suggesting that there may be another party who might be able to run the corrections facility more efficiently or Yeah, I mean, my feeling TJ is, look, if we're running things more efficiently and we had a professional jail administrator in place, I guarantee you, we would see cost efficiencies associated with that.

So, um, it looks, the, the job of sheriff is a big, big job.

And I think sheriff Salazar is doing the best job.

He knows how to do.

Um, but I think he needs some help and I'm ready and willing and able to sit down with him, put a taskforce together.

What are we going to take a look at?

But we cannot continue to do this because what is the definition of insanity?

I know that speaking of insanity, I know that one of the conversations that somewhat related to the overtime issue, but not completely is the idea of a mental health unit at the jail.

What are your views on that based on what's sort of been discussed so far?

I think that's a great suggestion because we do have, when we look at the population of the jail, um, certainly there some people in there that have mental health issues, some are minor, some are major, uh, but we have a mental health crisis in this country, period, the end.

So suggestion regarding look, let's use an empty facility, let's make the best use of it.

Let's move some of those P those inmates over there.

But TJ, at the end of the day, I haven't seen a cost benefit analysis associated with that.

Um, like I said, it's a great suggestion.

And I think it's, long-term because it's not like we're going to be able to set this thing up immediately.

But in the meantime, we also need some short-term solutions, as well as long-term.

And look, I'm a huge advocate, you know, for mental health, I've already taken a tour of the center for healthcare services.

Jolynn Burley is doing a great job over there.

And so she needs to definitely weigh into that equation because the last thing I think the jail means is we don't need more heavy administrative issues.

Meaning the sheriff also has to oversee that let's partner let's figure out who's the best part.

Julianne Burley is a CEO of the center for healthcare services, which provides behavioral health services to populations in bear County.

The work that they're doing here.

Yes.

So we've been discussing fiscal responsibility as it pertains to the bear County Sheriff's office.

And over time, what other kinds of fiscal restraint measures are you exploring in your, you know, two weeks in office?

So I think, I mean, it's not just about like cut, cut, cut, right.

The hard part is what do we prioritize from a spending standpoint and where do we realize efficiencies?

And so look, I'm going to take a very hard look on, I think COVID during this time is a great opportunity for city County consolidation.

How do we do things more efficiently?

Um, we have a magistration issue, right?

Uh, you were, uh, we're in the judge's office, uh, during that time.

And so we have two facilities and that's a ridiculous waste of taxpayer expense.

And so, you know, I plan on meeting with the city so we can get to the bottom of that and figure out, Hey, let's check egos at the door, whatever it takes to be able to do this more efficiently, Inter-governmental conflict is nothing new and I'm sure it won't go away, but maybe trying to address it, I think, to, um, kind of, um, an inventive way to take a look at things.

And it's an example of efficiencies and city County consolidation is really look, we have a Metro health department of the city, right.

But we have a great hospital system in UHS and we have a great leader in George Hernandez.

So what is the opportunity to consolidate perhaps Metro health with UHS, give the city a seat on the board at UHS so that they're still weighing into that.

But as the defacto agency for the County, we need to have more say so associated with that.

And certainly as a result of the pandemic, it's been underscored, right?

Some of the issues that they had early on at Metro health, although things have gotten better, but we need to place a priority on public health.

We need to be moving the needle on diabetes, morbid obesity, because we've certainly seen the pandemic underscore underlying conditions that have led to fatal outcomes associated with the pandemic.

So, um, there, again, during conversations that I've had, cause I've done a lot of digging, even since I've been elected.

Uh, Metro health has been severely underfunded over the years.

We have got to make it a priority now.

And I think the merger or some kind of a partnership between the County and UHS and Metro health makes tremendous sense.

Fair County commissioner Trish, to very thanks for joining us.

It sounds like you've hit the ground running.

Hi, Good to be here.

Thank you, TJ.

Big changes coming to the tourism industry in San Antonio, Cassandra motto has been CEO of visit San Antonio for 10 years and she is on her way out, but she joins us to discuss this important industry to San Antonio.

Cassandra, thanks for being here.

Thank you for having me.

So what do you think the big challenges are for the tourism industry in San Antonio as we're facing this pandemic and economic uncertainty?

What's your view?

Speaker 1: You know, at the end of the day pre pandemic, we are the third largest industry at $15.2 billion industry.

So it is imperative that we recover.

So right now it's all about recovery recovery, making sure the small businesses are operating and that people can get back to work.

So I think that really is the short term challenges that we face as a community is making sure that all those wonderful assets like your favorite restaurants, that they stay open and that, um, you know, people can come and enjoy all the amenities that we enjoy.

Speaker 2: So we're talking about hotels, we're talking about Riverwalk, restaurants and restaurants and bars near there.

We're talking about the convention center, which is an important source of tax revenue for the city.

Um, what are the challenges that each of those face and are they surmountable?

Speaker 1: So when somebody said, what do I lose sleep at night over, it's still the uncertainty, right?

Um, there is no, uh, city across even the Texas or across the country that don't have little bit different rules and regulations as it comes to COVID and being able to utilize those facilities, um, because you've got to, you're weighing health and safety with economic recovery.

Um, and in sometimes they work together and sometimes they're colliding.

So right now I think the big challenge is still the uncertainty of it all.

Uh, the fact that we're still in the midst, uh, we do have a Ray of hope with the vaccinations, uh, that are coming out, but of course they can't be done fast enough for our industry.

Um, but you know, like for the convention center specifically really working in great detail with those groups, not only on the building's protocol, the city's rules and guidelines, but also what they want to accomplish.

Um, you know, we foresee that leisure travel will be the first that comes back and you're already starting to see some of that trickle back, uh, to San Antonio, uh, but longer term, it will be those conventions that are so to our local economy.

Speaker 2: So 2019 was a record year for the tourism industry in San Antonio.

That was the last year we have data for before the pandemic.

Uh, you were here for 10 years.

What is your proudest accomplishment of your time at visit San Antonio?

Speaker 1: So probably what I'm most proud of is what maybe people may or may not will remember about me.

I think when I look back at the last 10 years, certainly, um, a legacy, I hope people remember as we transitioned from a city department to what is now visit San Antonio five Oh one C six entity, a public private entity.

And that afforded us a lot of things, whether it was through, uh, talent recruitment, speed to market.

Um, and then just a couple of years later, we created a new funding mechanism, which was the tourism public improvement district.

That really we were on the path of being a $38 million budget for promotions of San Antonio.

But what I'm very proud of is the visit San Antonio culture and team because we don't own anything.

We are partners with all the hotels attractions, even with the city, uh, regarding our biggest asset, the convention center, but we don't own anything.

So our people, and in 2019, we were named one of the top places to work in San Antonio.

And that's important because the visit San Antonio team helps drive the success that fuels, uh, all the travel and tourism economy.

Speaker 2: What are the big events that you try to attract as visit San Antonio?

Let's say the pandemic ends in a year or two, and we're looking at, what do we want to bring?

Is it the final four?

Is it big concerts?

I mean, what are we trying to bring to Sydney?

Speaker 1: Well, it's everything in between, right?

Um, you know, you look at the current, um, segment sectors, such as cybersecurity, uh, bio-science health care.

We try to align our convention sales strategy to those sectors that are growing right here in San Antonio.

So that will continue, you know, medical associations.

Um, those are great associations.

Uh, they fill the hotel rooms, they eat, they shop, um, you know, so that's very key.

So I would tell you, but of course the dome and you look at the at and T center, it's the recovery of all those live events app, uh, such as concerts that plays such an important role, but you look at the final four visit San Antonio partners with San Antonio sports, and they're already coming back in 2025.

And I think time and time again, our community shows that we're a great, uh, host city for events like the final four, and they have such a huge economic impact, but just this upcoming spring, we're hosting the women's final four.

And they're about to make a decision, um, in the next couple of weeks, whether or not we get all their regionals and everything that all the events would take place in San Antonio, that would be huge, um, on the pathway to recovery.

Speaker 2: So you're done in San Antonio.

You leave later this month, what's your next role?

Speaker 1: So I'm going to be leading visit Orlando.

So, uh, my family and I will be headed to Orlando.

Speaker 2: Well, thank you for your service to your community.

Thank you for being here with us and, uh, then and good luck to you with your future.

Speaker 1: Well, I appreciate it.

And I just want to say to the San Antonio community, uh, you've all been so good to me, my family, it has been a wonderful 10 years and they'll always be a place in my heart for San Antonio.

Thank you.

Speaker 2: now for the reporters round table, joining us Lauren Carruba medical reporter for the San Antonio express news.

Thanks for being here.

Thank you for having me.

So a big news on the Corona virus, the last two, three weeks, what is the main takeaway from where we are right now with the pandemic?

I would say Kiran, San Antonio, the best way to characterize it would be that we are in a crisis right now.

Um, over the past two months, we've seen COVID 19 hospitalizations here, balloon.

We now have more than 1400 people across the city hospitalized with the virus, which accounts for a huge share of all hospital patients, more than 30% of all patients are infected with the virus right now.

And so what you're seeing is the hospitals are responding by trying to increase beds.

They are, um, you know, diverting more trauma patients to our military medical center, Brooke army medical center, to try to free up space at university hospital, which is also a trauma center.

They're doing everything they can to expand capacity as patients continue to stream in.

But the problem is, is that as of right now, we, haven't seen a very strong signal.

That transmission is slowing down.

We're posting record numbers of cases.

Um, we had one day recently where we had more than 3000 new cases on a single day.

And, um, I believe two days last week where we had more than 2000 cases.

And so what you're seeing is our hospitals are filling up, but we're not seeing any slowing in the transmission in the community, which is setting us up for a really bad situation.

Are we concerned that the new variant or variants of the virus, which are highly contagious, more contagious than previously are going to make this worse?

You know, it's, it's hard to say right now.

Um, as of right now, we know that the variant is in certain places across the country.

Um, we know that it was in the UK because they were widely testing for it there.

And they did a lot of genetic testing to determine that that strain had become dominant.

What we've seen here is that, um, the stream has been identified in a Harris County resident.

So, um, someone who's living in the Houston area, and obviously that's not very far away from San Antonio, there's plenty of traffic between those two cities.

So it's possible that it could be here.

Um, and we just don't know it.

Um, my understanding is that the testing for that is being done through the state lab, the department of state health services.

Um, but the U S as a whole, doesn't have a D isn't testing as widely for the variant as other countries are.

And so it's kind of hard to say right now, but I think that the takeaway that public health experts always say regarding the strain is that you want to do the same things that you were already doing before the strain had been introduced.

You know, you want to continue to physical distance, wear your mask, avoid gathering with other people.

All of the things that the experts say that we should be doing to protect ourselves from the virus are the same when we're confronting that barrier.

The only differences is that when you go out the risk of getting, it might be higher.

So we're seeing increasing hospitalizations, we're seeing a potential risk that it's more likely that we're going to contract the virus.

How concerned are officials at this point in time about hospital capacity and whether we will meet or exceed hospital capacity in the near future?

I would say this is a very urgent concern.

You know, all along during the pandemic, the message has been, we need to flatten the curve.

We need to reduce transmission so that this doesn't happen to our hospitals, that our hospitals do not get over capacity because that leads to crises.

Like we've seen in El Paso, like we've seen in the Valley, like we're seeing right now in LA, um, that's what we want to avoid right now.

We are on the trajectory for that kind of disaster.

Um, it's hard to say whether we might get there or not, but I think the, the bigger point is that we already are in a crisis.

Even if we're not technically overwhelmed, we've had to bring in 1300 staff into our city to help our hospitals, which means our hospitals are straining beyond their normal capacity already with all that extra staff, because they wouldn't be able to care for these patients if they didn't have all that extra staff.

And then you see, um, that already the, the, the care of other patients who don't have COVID is suffering.

They have curtailed elective surgeries, which means that people who need surgery and other types of medical care are going to have a harder time of getting it because our hospitals are so full of COVID.

I've been speaking with, with nurses and doctors who are on the front lines of this, and they're just describing, you know, these situations where they're just like, it's constant there.

They have all of these COVID patients.

And then they also have patients who are coming in sicker than usual with other conditions, because so much of their medical care has been delayed or disrupted by the pandemic.

And so you kind of have this recipe where our hospitals are just treading water and doing everything they can to keep up.

Um, and no one really knows yet when this might end, um, there's indications in the modeling that officials look at that we might plateau or peak in the hospitalizations later this month.

But of course that's contingent on a lot of different things.

And right now just the numbers don't look good.

So you're saying that the non-pharmaceutical interventions are important to slow the spread of the virus.

There are pharmaceutical interventions, like vaccines being distributed right now, uh, real quickly.

Can you give us an assessment of what your sources are saying about the availability Speaker 1: And distribution and kind of prospects for it?

Speaker 2: Yeah, so I think that the thing to keep in mind is that the vaccines are super important in the long-term.

They are important for getting large swats of our community protected from the spires, particularly people who are vulnerable to it, like the elderly people with chronic underlying health conditions, things of that nature, but those vaccines, as much as they are starting to roll out to the public and bear County right now, they are not going to do anything to affect our current surge.

Um, we are not vaccinating on a large enough scale for that to make a big difference because you get one shot of the vaccine and then you have to get another shot three weeks later.

And then a couple of weeks after that, you were presumed to have full immunity, but it's not like you just get the shot and are completely immune, like in one second, you know, it's a process that takes over a month and we're, we're seeing the vaccine trickle out slowly across the country.

You know, the, the piece of the vaccine has been slow across the country because there's been very little federal planning put into it, but, you know, the, the virus is so widely seated in San Antonio right now.

And so many people are getting infected every day, that in the short term, the vaccine, isn't going to make a big difference.

And that's why the mitigation efforts that public health, public officials and health officials talk about regarding social distancing masking.

All of those things are so important because pharmaceutical interventions alone may not work.

Officials are also giving monoclonal antibody infusions to about 60 people a day at Freeman Coliseum.

And that can help keep a certain subset of high-risk patients out of the hospital.

Um, the idea is that you give that to them to try to prevent their disease from getting to the point where they need to be hospitalized.

But there are just so many patients right now that, you know, we need to be doing more because what we're doing right now is not working.

The hospitalizations are continuing to go Lauren Carruba I know you've been covering this for a year.

It looks like we're digging in for the long haul.

Thank you for joining us.

And thank you for joining us for another edition of on the record.

As always, you can go to dot org to do this episode or previous episodes and video or podcast format.

We will see you next week.

Thank you..