Austin City Council member Mike Martinez proposed a Hispanic quality of life initiative which passed the council Thursday morning with a vote of 7 to 0. It asks the city manager to identify funding and create a structure.

Almost 500,000 Hispanics live in the Austin area, and the number is growing.

Martinez says the city is long overdue for a conversation relating to Hispanic issues in Austin.

"I think were going to identify key areas of concern talking about education healthcare workforce development and see what it is as a community we can do to improve opportunities for Hispanics," Martinez said.

The initiative is based on the city's previous process with the African-American quality of life efforts. The African-American quality of life initiative began in 2005 and cost more than $700,000.