A Message From Steve K...02/08/2021

• Vaccine Update 

• Small Cell Poles

• Zoo Expansion

• Denver the Giraffe

• Chocolate Fest

• Meals on Wheels

• Working Off the Calories

• ReGeneration – The Tucson Story 

• Recreational / Adult Use Pot 

• COVID on College Campuses 

• NCAA and Amateurism 

• New COVID Variant Strains 

• COVID Risk in Arizona 

City Council member Durham has announced his resignation, effective March 1st. I’m opening this week with this note of thanks to Paul for his dedicated work on behalf of both the Ward 3 residents and to city residents generally. I’ve worked with Paul on several different initiatives and have found him to be honest, thorough, civil, and dedicated to looking into the details of each project we deal with. His service has been honorable, and I’ll miss him on both a personal and on a professional level. 

There’s talk of the succession process. My strong preference is to go through a process by which interested qualified electors of Ward 3 can submit letters of interest, the mayor and city council individually review them, and we make a selection as a body. That’s how we’ve done this in the recent past when Paul Cunningham was appointed to replace Rodney Glassman. It worked then, and it is a fully transparent, democratic tool I believe we should employ. I’ve shared that thought with anyone who has asked. 

We’ll have a special meeting on March 1st to formally accept Paul’s resignation and to discuss succession plans. I’ve heard directly from 4 people who are interested. It’s my hope that each gets an opportunity to share their thoughts and vision for representing Ward 3 and the city. 

The number of doses we’re allotted is decided at the State Department of Health level. Two weeks ago, we were receiving in the neighborhood of 30,000 doses per week. This week they’ve dropped it to around 18,000 doses. The reason? Because they see we’ve got doses that are ‘unused.’ The reality? Every one of those doses is earmarked for a scheduled appointment. The other reality? The Governor’s office, through the Department of Health, is taking good care of Maricopa County. We need your voices aimed at Ducey and Dr. Cara Christ to demand Pima County get its fair share of the vaccines.  

Another reason for some of the local problems is the TMC online registration system has not been reliable. For example, the TCC is one of our points of distribution (POD.) When our staff shows up in the morning and sees only 140 people registered for the whole day, and they have over 1,000 doses to administer, they’re forced to scramble so the doses get used. They've done a great job of that, but it’s not fair to staff, and it's not fair to you to have to drop what you’re doing and race down, stand in line, and take the bulk of your day to get a vaccine you should be able to register for via the online portal.  We have TFD staff, redeployed city workers, and TMC I.T. staff working at the TCC M-F from 8-5 getting people vaccinated. They truly don’t need the added hassle of doing the registrations on the fly. 

TMC says they will have their system issues resolved, and those TCC issues – which are replicated at other sites – will diminish. One more piece to this is that until now, the health care people have wanted 75+ year old people to be at a hospital setting if they’re getting a vaccination. That has been out of a concern over adverse reactions to the vaccine among that vulnerable population. We have not seen those reactions. Right now, TMC is booked into mid-March with 75+ year old people. With the knowledge we’ve gained about adverse reactions being rare, other non-healthcare sites such as the TCC will be used for that population. 

Currently, the TCC is taking 70+, first responders and educators. As we get into the 1.B.2 categories of essential service workers, many of whom work shift work, we’ll also be moving the hours of operation to later in the day. Staffing is a problem – dose quantity is a problem – the TMC I.T. system is a problem. The staff running the TCC site has been making lemonade out of all this.  

In an effort to get us the doses we need/deserve, Pima County Board Chair Bronson sent a letter to our federal delegation. This is the takeaway paragraph from the letter: 

With the 120,000 doses administered, and now about 104,000 people in Pima County who’ve had COVID, we’re just over 20% of the population that has some level of immunity. Many of the vaccinated people are 1 dose only, and we don’t know for sure how long immunity lasts if you’ve had the virus. So the ‘some level of immunity’ statement really needs to be taken with caution.   

If you need a hand with the registration process, please call either 324.6400 or 222.0119. Things change every day with this program, so don’t hesitate to call them if you’re unsure at any point in the process. 

Small Cell Poles 

As many of you know, we’ve been fighting a series of brush fires related to the installation of small cell poles in midtown neighborhoods. The issue is not whether they provide a service people are after. They do. The issue is where the poles are going and what voice ‘we the people’ have in choosing the site. Per state and FCC rules, our voice is severely muted. I’ve asked Paul Durham to co-sign onto another study session agenda discussion about this problem. I believe we have options that haven’t been suggested yet. 

In 2017 the state legislature passed HB2365. It’s consistent with the FCC rulemaking on small cell poles in that it gives very much free rein to cell companies when choosing sites for their antennae. If you read through the FCC rules, they camp on the notion of making sure the rollout of 5G technology is not hindered in any way by local regulations. It’s the telecommunications analog to the 1960’s ‘space race.’ 

I took a close look at 2365 and found these two sections. The first is the definition they put into law of a ‘utility pole’. 

That makes sense. We drive by the TEP utility poles all over town, and we see them in easements and alleys behind nearly every midtown residence. And they’re the center of another controversy related to adding a new distribution system to service Banner UMC, the UA, and surrounding neighborhoods. 

Reading further in 2365 comes Section 11-1802. Here’s Section G, where it clearly says a wireless provider has the right to collocate on existing utility poles. That right is not subject to any zoning review or approval. 

So the question becomes, ‘why haven’t we been told this, and why aren’t the cell providers looking to existing utility poles for collocation?’ I raised the question with some of their decision-makers last week and have not heard back yet. For me, it’s the game-changer we haven’t been told about that has always been in the tool kit.  

Here are some images of what this collocation looks like. These are pictures I found from other cities. With some imagination, they almost look like coconut trees, without the foliage. Maybe we call this initiative Project Coconut. 

There are specs for having this done even within the TEP guidelines. Here are a couple of links:

•  https://www.tep.com/telecommunication-pole-attachments/  
• https://www.tep.com/wp-content/uploads/Pole-Attachment-Guideline.pdf

Embedded in that material, you’ll see everything a cell provider needs in order to move ahead with claiming their spot on an existing utility pole. 

Where a utility pole isn’t available, there are other options we’ll be addressing on the 23rd. We can and should be requiring ‘one-touch’ poles so when they’re replaced, the new ones are prepped for wireless. The same is true for when anybody opens the ground for trenching. Stub out and prep for fiber. It follows the old carpentry rule; measure twice, cut once. If there’s trenching happening, do all of the work once to avoid more disruption later on. 

It’s really draining to have to play the game of 20 questions, only to eventually get to that exact question that holds the key. The discussion on the 23rd now has some tools we will be expecting to be implemented – by all parties involved – so the front of your house isn’t trashed out with a series of these poles.  

Zoo Expansion  

I’ve continued to receive input from all sides on the question of the zoo expansion. In addition, I’ve participated in multiple zoom meetings with a variety of participants to listen and learn from varying perspectives. Given all the passion on this, I’ve co-signed with Richard a study session agenda request for March 9th so we can discuss the history of how we arrived at this place and to talk about ideas that are in the works to help address some of the concerns. I’ve already met multiple times with city staff to discuss alternate ideas. Here’s the agenda request memo: 

One lady shared during a zoom that sometimes graphics are hard to decipher. In that same newsletter (11/4/19), the link took you to this description of the expansion zone: 

And 2 paragraphs down in the link I included, the master plan description says this: “Pathway to Asia extends across Lakeshore Drive and includes the park’s southern pond and Barnum Hill. Development of the land will be conducted with sensitivity to the environment and any wildlife currently living there.” 

I had this same information in my 9/4/18 newsletter. That was while we were still considering our agreement with the zoological society to manage the operations and capital improvements at the zoo. The same graphics and discussion were linked in that newsletter. This was a year after Prop 202/203 passed as a funding source. It’s simply not accurate to say this wasn’t done publicly and that the voters were duped with the Propositions. For well over a year after the vote, the plans were still being discussed. 

There has also been talk of removing trees. City staff and the zoological society have had arborists study the trees that lay within the proposed expansion area. Due to beetle infestation, some of them are coming out. That has happened in areas all over the city – it happened in the pocket park in my neighborhood. And yet, the net result of the expansion project will be an increase in the number of trees. This wording also appeared in the plan description I shared in that newsletter: 

The Prop 202/203 vote was to approve a funding source for capital projects and zoo operation. During the year following that vote, we had this item on study and regular sessions, each of which included the expansion descriptions I linked to. The mayor and city council approved the expansion with the caveat that if there were changes, they’d have to come back to us to approve. But what is shown in the graphic I have above was what we approved, with public input after the Prop 202/203 vote. Since then, over the course of three fiscal years, we’ve approved capital budgets for the work, contracts have been signed, testing and permitting have begun, and over $3M has been expended in good faith based on our unanimous support for the work.  

The Star had another opinion piece on this last week. When Tim Stellar wrote that the plan was “sort of” publicly noticed, simply put, he is wrong. It was noticed multiple times, in multiple ways, and it garnered input from multiple sources. Not just zoo supporters. When Tim wrote on the business page, he was more attuned to things such as breach of contract, sunk costs, and good faith business relationships. Writing an opinion comes with the luxury of choosing an emphasis. Had his piece run as ‘news’, his editors would have demanded a balanced story. 

The area I’m discussing with staff for addressing the concerns is located just north-ish of the large pond. The conversation is to remove some asphalt, add a water feature and trees, increase the turf area, and include educational components related to drought, conservation, and climate. Once conceptual ideas are advanced a bit, we’ll again reach out for public engagement. I believe this will be an excellent new feature, and the expansion will be a wonderful addition to our great local zoo.  

Denver the Giraffe 

Speaking of the zoo, last week Denver celebrated her 32nd birthday. She’s a familiar face among zoo visitors. She’s one example of the care the zoo veterinary staff gives to their ‘geriatric’ animals. 

Wild giraffe populations have decreased by about a third in the past 30 years. When my bride, daughter, and I went on our game safari in Kenya, they were all over the place. I have a great video of 2 giraffes ‘fighting.’ In what looks like a graceful dance, they hit each other with their necks. I’m told they generate quite a bit of momentum and that you wouldn’t want to be on the receiving end.  

The average age for females is around 19 years. So Denver is way beyond that and is in fact the 2nd oldest giraffe in the Species Survival Plan. That Plan includes work through the full Association of Zoos and Aquariums. Check out www.reidparkzoo.org for getting a reserved spot to visit. And if you’d like to learn more about giraffe conservation work that’s going on in Uganda, use this link.  Giraffe Conservation Foundation. 

Chocolate Fest

Let’s do a couple of food items. Yes, chocolate is food. In fact, it’s one of the essential food groups that the FDA consistently misses when sending out dietary guidelines.  

Coming on February 12th, my bride's birthday – it seems to mysteriously fall on Chocolate Fest day every year – is this year’s Chocolate Fest. It’ll run from 3:30 until 5pm and will be done by Zoom. What isn’t? 

This is the 17th annual Fest. It’s sponsored by the Water Resources Research Center, so you know it has to be some serious and science-based stuff. Here’s a shot of the kinds of goodies you’ll see: 

Meals on Wheels 

More on food. Last week I had the chance to help kick off the Southern Arizona Meals on Wheels program. If you see the Oscar Mayer Wiener mobile rolling around town, that’s them delivering meals. 

When COVID hit, 90% of the Meals on Wheels programs across the country saw an immediate increase in demand. They’re now serving double the number of seniors they were prior to COVID. An increase in demand means an increase in costs, so if you can help with their work, find them at www.mobilemealssoaz.org. You’ll find both donation options and volunteer opportunities.   

If you see the wiener mobile, it’ll be easy to ketchup to it because it doesn’t go fast. And when residents see it pull up in front of their home, you know it something they’ll relish. Sorry.  

Working Off the Calories 

And after all of the chocolate and food, it’s time to think about working off the calories. Our parks folks are now offering outdoor leisure classes. They’re going on at Reid Park, as well as out at Udall Park, Purple Heart Park, and at the Clement’s Center. These are adult classes in Tai Chi, body conditioning, line dancing, pickleball, and a bunch of youth classes as well. There are also arts and crafts options.  

Use this link to get signed up -  EZEEreg.com. Snooze and lose – people are really wanting to get out of their houses, so don’t wait, or the class you’re after might be full. 

ReGeneration – The Tucson Story 

One of the people you’ll see signed into the Sustainable Tucson meeting is Jana Segal-Stormont. She’s also the author of ReGeneration. It’s a story of how a diverse group of young people work past their cultural differences to address climate change.

Recreational / Adult Use Pot 

In the past week, we’ve seen a few more state licenses issued for adult use of pot. None of them are near to the Harvest Dispensary at Grant and Treat, so the impact there hasn’t really been great. Still lots of parking in the vicinity of the place, and each time I stop by, I see the city-owned vacant lot is getting pretty limited use. People are choosing to park on the street and walk to the shop. It’s clear that sales are dropping somewhat, so the problems we initially had with the lines and confrontations have died down to a large degree. 

I’ve mentioned that one of the reasons Harvest is in this location is due to our zoning rules. They were adopted when medical marijuana was first legalized. At that same time, Colorado had started their trial run with recreational pot. The news was pretty full of a proliferation of stores selling dope, and reports of problems like what we initially experienced with the Harvest location. In an effort to avoid that, we adopted some pretty stringent rules for how close these places can be, not only to each other but to some legitimately vulnerable categories of people. 

This map shows in blue how our current setback rules affect where a dispensary can go. They’re prohibited in the blue areas on the map. The white spots are where one of the stores could locate. Note that Harvest is where it is, with pretty much no option to move. That’s true of most of the other dispensaries as well. 

The rules we have in place require a dispensary to be 2,000 feet from another dispensary, 2,000 feet from a treatment facility, and 1,000 feet from things like schools, churches, and parks. That’s the reason there are so few places we can allow a dispensary. When I say ‘the location chose Harvest, they didn’t choose it,’ that’s what I’m talking about. 

If we were to loosen up the setback rules to say 1,000 feet from another dispensary or treatment facility and 500 feet from the other categories of places, the map would change to this: 

Now, look at Harvest. The white areas for a relocation include shopping centers that right now have vacant storefronts, and most importantly, lots of available parking. The number of available parcels citywide jumps from about 1,150 up to nearly 5,000. This will be a part of our conversation when we get to looking at local zoning now that adult use is legal. I think we were wise to be cautious early on, and now we’re seeing some of the unintended results.  

Setbacks won’t be the only piece of this we’ll be looking at, but along with the allowed size of a dispensary, it’ll have the greatest effect in finding locations that aren’t on the immediate periphery of residential neighborhoods. 

COVID on College Campuses 

Some interesting studies are out that show how politics played a significant role in when colleges decided to go online and when to open for in-person classes. Nearly 80% of schools in states that Trump won in ‘16 announced plans for in-person. Only 45% of institutions in states that Clinton won announced those plans. The studies indicate that “states’ sociopolitical features were the most significant influence on public four-year universities’ decisions to reopen last fall.” Trump won in Arizona in 2016. The UA opened for in-person. The UA president is from conservative Mississippi. Ducey is clearly a Trump guy. The study indicates a correlation. 

One of the most significant issues cited by college presidents was state funding and how that affected the financial status of the school. State politics, not regional public health conditions that campus leadership often pointed to, was most strongly correlated to campus opening decisions. Daniel Collier was one of the lead authors in the study. Here’s a direct quote from Daniel: 

“Four-year public institutions, when it came to making their decisions, were only impacted by state politics.” 

If you’re interested in reading some of the reports, you can start with these links. The first is for the most recent study by Collier. It was built on the one called ‘Prior Research.’ 

•  Posted Thursday on the Social Science Research Network,  

•  Prior Research  

And yes, the UA again gets mentioned in the studies: 

Last week I wrote that the University of Michigan had shut down their athletics due to a new strain of COVID having popped up.  Due to an increase in cases, they instituted a shelter in place order. Now Michigan State U has done the same. They’re located about 100 miles from UM, and now they, too are seeing a spike in new COVID cases. MSU has a 2 week ‘stay at home’ in effect as well. 

It’s not limited to the state of Michigan. Villanova president Peter Donohue also called for a 2-week stay at home. He wrote, ‘The spread is happening in many settings, and while no one source is responsible, it is clear that social gatherings, both on and off-campus, have caused our current situation.’ This isn’t in our rearview mirror yet. The UA announced a gathering that had north of 100 students last week. It falls in the ‘what are they thinking?’ category. 

Sporting activities continue to be impacted. Boston College men’s basketball team had only 4 scholarship players available for their game vs. Florida State last week. I’ve already mentioned the entire UM program is shut down. The UA lost both men’s and women’s basketball games due to COVID throughout the season.  

And with all of that, kudos to small private Hillsdale College for lending a freezer to the vaccination effort. Um, but wait. They’re a conservative private school that made news for rejecting federal student aid so they could make their own rules. Well, evidently still not being inclined to follow the rules set by the feds, once they loaned the freezer to a local hospital, more than 200 of their staffers received vaccinations ahead of their ‘place in line.’ Of course, they denied any quid pro quo, and said all they were doing was ‘matching supply with demand.’ Above I wrote about how politics is correlated with decisions on when to go in-person vs. virtual. Politics seems to be poking its head into the vaccination process as well.  

NCAA and Amateurism 

Back to college sports and COVID. In a COVID-related but also ‘amateurism’ piece, this graphic was shown by the NCAA in what was evidently intended to be a March Madness promo. That’s the Baylor head basketball coach being quoted, I guess pitching to fans how much the student-athletes are sacrificing to make the ‘Dance’ a reality.  

His final post read, “u realize we are playing in a pandemic being told to stay away from everyone we love just for y’all entertainment, but I can’t sell my own jersey with my last name on it to help my future financially. That makes sense to u?” 

Right now, the NCAA is in a regulatory footrace with Congress on payment for players, allowing players to sell their name, image and likeness, and the whole Restraint of Trade issue. Several programs have shut down sports during the pandemic. Right now, the lure of the billion-dollar media package has resulted in the NCAA basketball tournament being planned for a bubble in Indianapolis. As you can see, some players are feeling like pawns in the process. 

New COVID Variant Strains 

Last week there were 437 total cases of the variant COVID strains identified in the U.S. Arizona had not been impacted. We’re now up to 611 cases of the new strains, and Arizona joins the map where they’ve been discovered. 

These are CDC data. Florida and California are seeing significant increases. Given their populations, that’s concerning. One slight change in the way the map is coded is they’re keeping states in the light green for cases 1 to 50. Before, it was 1 to 40. The CDC says the change was made to ‘limit the number of colors’ in the map and to allow for easier comparison from one state to another. I’m not sure I buy that, but you’ll also notice on closer inspection that they’ve completely left out the “50 to 100” case group. The most important point is that the new strains are increasing, both in number and geographically.  

The site I use is updated every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Let’s see how long it takes for them to fill that 50-100 gap and see how it changes the coloration of the map.  

If you’d like to track this on your own, here’s a link you can use:  https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/transmission/variant-cases.html.  

COVID Risk in Arizona 

In Arizona, Maricopa County is now closing in on a half a million cases and 8,000 deaths due to COVID. In Pima County, we’re over 100,000 cases and just under 2,000 deaths. Our two counties combined are, therefore more than 600,000 COVID cases and over 10,000 deaths. Knowing that new strains have arrived in the state is not a welcome bit of news. Vaccinations are still the key since the mutant strains appear to be responsive to them. 

For the past 2 weeks, I’ve shared the week by week trend of new cases in Pima County. The downward slope, although gradual, is still headed in the right direction. Here is now a 3-week comparison: 

But to put that trend into perspective, at the end of April last year – right before the Governor’s ‘stay at home’ order went into effect, Pima County had a total of 1,136 cases. That’s 1,136 combined for the months of March and April. Last week we had triple that – in one week during this ‘downward trend,’ we had over 3,700 new cases. The direction the numbers are headed is good, but the starting point is still extremely high.  

Here’s the Harvard Global Health Institute Risk Map from two weeks ago. Below it is the current map. Arizona is still completely in red, but there’s some minor improvement across the nation. But look at Maine. Last week they were in the green. In fact, for the past 2 weeks, they’ve been good to go. Now they’re at the high-risk level throughout their state. And the CDC doesn’t have them identified as having found any of the new strains. That is a perfect example of how this can change on a dime. Please don’t take unnecessary risks, especially with the new strains popping up. 

You have to dig a little on the Pima County COVID site to find these tables, but this link will take you directly to them:  https://webcms.pima.gov/cms/One.aspx?portalId=169&pageId=568644.  

The Covid Tracking Project will come to an end on March 7th. That will be the 1 year anniversary of their all-volunteer effort to compile data and share it widely. Local journalist Dylan Smith of the Tucson Sentinel has been a part of that, and I extend this note of thanks to him for that work. This is their most recent nationwide graph. Let’s hope the trend it shows continues. 

You can find the most current data at this site: https://covid19.arizona.edu/dashboard.   

Responsible health care officials are saying this is now a footrace between continuing the slow declines we’re seeing in COVID-19, spread of the new variant strains, and getting vaccines out widely. Please continue the CDC-recommended safe behavior activities you’re doing, and watch the vaccination chart for when it’s your turn to register for that. 

Pima County Health Department portal:  https://www.arcgis.com/apps/opsdashboard/index.html#/426baca70718453a9f63a4f85e545d8b 

The national CDC site: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/cases-updates/index.html  

For the NY Times data sets, use this link:    

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/04/23/upshot/five-ways-to-monitor-coronavirus-outbreak-us.html 

And you can find the Harvard data on this site: Harvard Global Health Institute Key Metrics   

The State Department of Health site is at this link: www.azdhs.gov. 

Track the advice on public schools through this link: https://www.azed.gov/communications/2020/03/10/guidance-to-schools-on-covid-19/  You can find all the dashboard information at the “School Reopening Public Health Benchmarks” spot. And here’s the UA daily update link. www.covid.arizona.edu. When it opens, click ‘See Latest Updates’ and it’ll take you to a screen with the updated data.