Public Health Commission reviews FY2026 goals, discusses secure AI licenses and a funding recommendation

The Austin-Travis County Public Health Commission reviewed and discussed activation of five FY2026 goals, and commissioners debated data partnerships, the possible municipal use of AI tools and next steps for a bridging-public-health funding recommendation.

Chair opened the goal review by listing five priority areas for the commission’s next six months: support for the city food plan, partnerships with UT and data-asset exploration, refugee equity and health, public-health education and awareness, and analysis of the economic impacts from lack of public-health investment. The chair asked commissioners to volunteer for goal teams and to avoid walking quorums during follow-up work.

Why it matters: Commissioners suggested concrete avenues for implementing goals — including student support from UT, cross-committee conversations with planning and zoning and the Sustainability Committee, and a potential city incentive structure for green roofs or urban agriculture. They also discussed near-term budget timelines that could allow the commission to make formal budget recommendations by March 31.

AI and data governance exchange: Commissioner Rice raised whether city and county public-health teams have permission to use AI tools and proposed the commission consider recommending a secure, city-hosted AI instantiation for staff. Adrianne Stirrup (who identified herself in the meeting as from Boston Public Health) said Austin Public Health piloted ChatGPT for non‑HIPAA tasks and that the city is moving to Microsoft Copilot but is working through data‑security constraints. "The city made a decision to switch to Copilot, and there's some issues with security in using, those datasets in that platform," Stirrup said. Commissioners discussed the need for a contained, city‑controlled instance or licenses so staff could analyze non‑HIPAA datasets safely.

Budget process and deadlines: The chair reminded commissioners that any formal budget recommendations from boards and commissions are due by March 31; she described a workflow for drafting, circulating and, if needed, calling an emergency meeting to vote on a recommendation before the deadline.

Bridging-public-health funding recommendation: Commissioner Cookham reported he is revising a draft recommendation on bridging public-health funding to incorporate prior feedback and a planned meeting with a UT professor; Cookham said he expects to return with an updated draft at the next meeting. "I rewatched the meeting and made sure I got all that feedback," he said, and added that he planned to include the UT meeting results in the next revision.

Other items: Commissioners named volunteers to carry forward goal work, discussed partnering with UT students for data support, and flagged co-op development and Del Valle outreach as important local priorities for food access. Commissioner Dollhouse said they plan to redraft a heat-related illness prevention recommendation to return in April.

What’s next: Staff will circulate materials and coordinate goal teams; commissioners may prepare budget recommendations for possible emergency vote by March 31. The commission will also hold chair and vice-chair elections next month; the chair adjourned the meeting at 3:54 p.m.