Afghan Update
Over the weekend, I established a direct touch with the newly arrived Afghan families. There is a local Tucson Afghan Community (TAC) group with whom I’ll now be working, so any donations you bring will have a direct pipeline to the people in need. We’ll, of course, continue our very good working relationship with the Muslim Community Center of Tucson and the other groups involved in this effort – it's larger than any one group can manage. But with the new contacts through TAC we can, in many cases, eliminate the middleman. Families will come directly to the Ward office with their TAC partner and be able to select the exact items they need.
With many of the families now moving from hotel space into their own apartment, the household items and furniture become more important than before. We’re still connected with Habitat, but the new relationship means you can bring all household items to us here at Ward 6 and know it’ll be Afghan families who will benefit. And of course, bedding, kid’s toys, personal hygiene items (sunscreen, toiletries, shampoo, etc) are always needed.
Our food donation effort is going to Community Food Bank. I’ve got the donation boxes right at our front entryway so you can drop items easily and be on your way. And for those who cannot manage to transport furniture, contact the Habitat for Humanity donation hotline (230.5323) and let them know you’ve got items for the Afghan relief effort. They’ll then set aside half of any sales proceeds for the special refugee fund we’ve established at the HabiStore.
The status the refugees are showing up with determines several things. One is what benefits they are eligible for. Another is how they can use that status to get family members out of harms way over in Afghanistan or nearby countries. On Monday, I’ll be having one of the refugees do my swearing-in ceremony. He’s a former judge in Afghanistan, and after just a couple of months here, he’ll be taking part in our democratic process. He is one who still has family he had to leave behind – in his case, stuck in Turkey. In due course, we’ll be sharing his story. For now, please know that what you saw in the television video images have real lives attached, many of whom are now here in Tucson, looking for employment, housing and wanting to connect with our wider community. We’re very grateful for all who continue to support our new community members through your donations.
Refugee Housing
I mentioned above that many of the families are transitioning from hotel space into their own apartments. That’s a slow process, largely because of the current housing market. Landlords can, and in many cases are increasing rents to the point they become unreachable for many of our current residents, much less refugees. In the past 2 weeks, I’ve been involved with meetings trying to bring landlords together with our housing department leadership and the refugee resettlement agencies. The goal is to explain to landlords all the benefits and support that comes through groups such as the International Refugee Committee, Lutheran Social Services, and Catholic Community Services. With that understanding will hopefully come more landlords who will get involved with the resettlement process.
Each of the resettlement agencies can guarantee 6 months of rent, and depending on the status of the family, in some cases even longer. Each agency brings other services such as helping the family find employment, enrolling kids and adults in schools, and intervening with landlords when language barriers might pose challenges. We will continue meeting, enlisting more landlords who have space to offer. If you are a prospective landlord, please reach out to my office or directly to any of the contacts listed on the flyer, and we’ll do our best to answer any questions you may have about how the agencies can support you.
We often get people calling to offer a spare bedroom and a ‘room and board’ co-housing opportunity. That’s not something the resettlement agencies can manage. There are security concerns, and they don’t have the staffing to dig into all of that while at the same time managing the arrival of multiple new refugees. Thank you for those offers – what we need right now is landlords who can rent a full apartment – not a room in a house.
Dancing through COVID
Pre-COVID, I met a woman named Kareene. She was at the time kicking off some dance opportunities, and I had connected her with Jean over at Sister Jose. Kareene met with groups of homeless women and gave them some good diversion through movement.
Kareene’s group is called Dansequences. They’ve tried – and succeeded – in keeping people connected through movement during COVID. They’ve held virtual ‘dance’ sessions with residents at memory care institutions. That project was called “Class through Glass”. They’ve done outdoor classes in institutional courtyards, have worked with developmentally disabled folks, independent living residents, retirement communities, and even held a class called Equinimity (dancing with horses). Now they’ve got some ideas your neighborhood can get involved with.
Dansequences is offering to host Garden Gatherings. It’s them bringing dance into the community by holding sessions in yards, gardens, or other community open space. Think of it as a Porch Fest using dance instead of music. You can look at some of what they’ve done by going to https://dancesequences.org/videos/. And to get ahold of the group, email Kareene at dancesequences@gmail.com. It’s a fun and healthy idea that she deserves credit for developing.
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Vaccines and the Military
I read a report recently regarding the vaccines required for military service. There are between 9 and 17 that are required, depending on your service assignment. Among the 9 that everybody must take are MMR, Hepatitis A&B, flu, polio, Diptheria/tetanus, and meningococcal. They’re already required. The Biden administration has taken the step of also requiring COVID.
If you are not fully vaccinated with each of the vaccines required, the military classifies you as ‘not deployable’. As the deadlines loom for the COVID vaccines, members of the military are facing the end of their careers. If you’re ‘not deployable,’ you’re not long for the military.
We are watching an institution – military – in which orders can be given to ‘take that hill’. That’s what they’ve signed up for by enlisting. And yet, even among that group, we’re seeing COVID vaccine resistance. More on that below when I share the current city employee data. The city isn’t the military, but it’s public service, and we’ve implemented workplace requirements that we will be adhering to.
Vaccine Update
The city’s policy for mandatory vaccination went into full effect on December 1st. When we announced the policy back in August, it came with a 5-day disciplinary time off sanction for employees who chose to remain unvaccinated. The amount of non-compliance was high, so M&C changed the policy to one calling for termination if a city worker failed to get vaccinated. As of 12/1, there were only 11 employees who chose to be terminated and not get the COVID vaccine.
However, the city included exemptions for medical reasons, and for now has included the option of providing accommodations for employees who claim some sort of religious issue with vaccines. Here’s how all of the numbers break down.
Fully vaccinated city workers – 3,513
Unvaccinated with no medical or religious claim – 11
Unvaccinated with a medical claim – 108
Unvaccinated with a religious claim – 241
Employees who claimed both a medical and religious exemption – 50
First, thank you to the city employees who simply joined the majority of the community and followed science. The vaccines are safe and effective in controlling the spread and severity of the infection.
Of the 11 workers who decided to leave their jobs behind, there were 1 each from city courts, TPD, 911, TFD, parks, and Tucson Water. There were 2 from our business services department and 3 from environmental services. We will refill those vacancies.
I was curious about what constitutes a legitimate medically related reason to avoid the vaccine. It appears to be someone who has had an allergic reaction to an ingredient found in the COVID vaccine. I know of one person who claimed a medical exemption who has a history of reactions to all sorts of vaccines. I don’t want to discount that. But here are some statements on whether specific underlying conditions should result in a medical exemption:
The American College of Rheumatology COVID-19 Vaccine Clinical Guidance recommends that people with autoimmune and inflammatory rheumatic disease (which includes lupus) get the vaccine unless they have an allergy to an ingredient in the vaccine.
People with underlying medical conditions can receive a COVID-19 vaccine as long as they have not had an immediate or severe allergic reaction to a COVID-19 vaccine or to any of the ingredients in the vaccine.
The Obesity Society strongly recommends that people with obesity get a COVID-19 vaccine. There is clear evidence that the effectiveness of the approved vaccines is similar in patients with or without obesity.
People with immunocompromising conditions or people who take immunosuppressive medications or therapies are at increased risk for severe COVID-19 illness. The currently FDA-approved or FDA-authorized COVID-19 vaccines are not live vaccines and therefore can be safely administered to immunocompromised people.
Is the COVID-19 vaccine safe for everyone?
- COVID-19 vaccines are safe and effective.
- Millions of people in the United States have received COVID-19 vaccines under the most intense safety monitoring in U.S. history.
- CDC recommends you get a COVID-19 vaccine as soon as possible.
With that, we have 108 employees who allege some sort of medical issue causing them to avoid the vaccination. Of those 108, 36 are from TPD, 36 are from Tucson Fire, the rest are scattered among several other departments.
What about religion? Here are some thoughts from major international religious leaders. First from BBC News:
The Pope has said he does not know how to explain why some cardinals in the Catholic Church are hesitant to get the Covid-19 jab.
"It's a bit strange because humanity has a history of friendship with vaccines," Francis told reporters during a flight from Slovakia to Italy.
The pontiff, who is vaccinated himself, has previously encouraged people to get jabbed for the "common good".
He said one cardinal had ended up in intensive care with Covid-19.
This is from Religiousnews.com.
‘Unvaccinated people die!’ declare Orthodox rabbis in new video ad
Jewish Americans overall are the most likely US religious group to have received a vaccine. But vaccine hesitancy is far higher among some Orthodox Jews.
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I pulled this reference to vaccine’s and Muslims from NPR (I know, a ‘left-wing media’ outlet).
Sheikh Nuru Mohammed, the imam at the Al-Abbas mosque, recognized a significant percentage of his congregants were hesitant to get the "jab," as it's called. So in December, he began to fight disinformation during his online Friday sermons — and, despite some misgivings in his congregation, even turned the mosque into a vaccination center.
It was the first of its kind in Britain and paved the way for dozens more.
Evangelical Christians have been among the most vaccine-hesitant. And yet, their leadership that’s not tied into misinformation found on the internet considers vaccination an ethical requirement of the faith. This is a quote from an NBC news story called
'Christians and the Vaccine' project: Combating ethical qualms of evangelical communities’
"It is necessary for others in the world that we Christians take the vaccine," Curtis Chang, a theologian and founder of the Redeeming Babel site, wrote in one section. Christians and the Vaccine is a project of Redeeming Babel. "Given our numbers in the U.S. and in many parts of the world, what Christians decide will determine whether the world achieves herd immunity and whether the vaccine succeeds in bringing the pandemic to an end".
If Christians say no to the shots and continue to insist it's their right to do so, "then this will allow the virus to still circulate and replicate in the world".
"Your opportunity is to take the vaccine not as something necessary for yourself, but as necessary for others, for the world," Eboo Patel, founder of Interfaith Youth Core, or IFYC, agreed that getting evangelicals vaccinated is necessary to end the pandemic.
"Religious engagement could be the key to herd immunity," Patel said.
With those endorsements from leaders representing the largest religious communities in the world, the city has 241 workers who have found a religious reason for not taking the COVID vaccine. Of those 241, 69 are from TPD, 81 are from Tucson Fire, and the rest are scattered among several other departments.
There was another school shooting late last week. We see greater outrage by parents at school board meetings over their kids having to wear a mask than we see about the gun-related carnage caused in school settings.
I mentioned internet misinformation. Over the weekend, I saw a story on ‘Black Oxygen Organics,’ referred to in social media as simply BOO. It’s dirt. It’s ‘magic dirt’. People are shown drinking mason jars of black liquid, wiping it on their faces and feet, and dipping babies in the stuff. You can get 5 ounces of it for $110. It’s said to be ‘safe for anyone at any age, including animals’. From one of their websites comes this: “A gift from the Ground. Drink it. Wear it. Bathe in it”.
This miracle cure came under fire from both Canadian and U.S. health experts. They largely shut down just before Thanksgiving, but not before drawing tens of thousands of gullible people into the COVID vaccine hesitancy organic cesspool they were marketing.
The Mayo Clinic has issued numerous articles debunking alleged COVID cures. I pulled just a few from one of their sites. For our medically exempt and religious accommodation city workers – and you others who remain vaccine-hesitant, please do not buy into these ineffective and sometimes dangerous alternatives. You’ll remember some of them were being pushed by our former President. Just get the correct vaccine.
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Pneumonia and flu vaccines. Vaccines against pneumonia, such as the pneumococcal vaccine, don't provide protection against the COVID-19 virus. The flu shot also won't protect you against the COVID-19 virus. However, annual flu vaccinations are recommended for everyone age 6 months and older.
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Saline nasal wash. There is no evidence that rinsing your nose with saline protects against infection with the COVID-19 virus.
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High temperatures. Exposure to the sun or to temperatures higher than 77 F (25 C) doesn't prevent the COVID-19 virus or cure COVID-19. You can get the COVID-19 virus in sunny, hot, and humid weather. Taking a hot bath also can't prevent you from catching the COVID-19 virus. Your normal body temperature remains the same, regardless of the temperature of your bath or shower.
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Low temperatures. Cold weather and snow also can't kill the COVID-19 virus.
- Antibiotics kill bacteria, not viruses. However, people hospitalized due to COVID-19 might be given antibiotics because they also have developed a bacterial infection.
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Alcohol and chlorine spray. Spraying alcohol or chlorine on your body won't kill viruses that have entered your body. These substances also can harm your eyes, mouth, and clothes.
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Drinking alcohol. Drinking alcohol doesn't protect you from the COVID-19 virus.
- There's no evidence that eating garlic protects against infection with the COVID-19 virus.
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Ultraviolet (UV) disinfection lamp. Ultraviolet light can be used as a disinfectant on surfaces. But don't use a UV lamp to sterilize your hands or other areas of your body. UV radiation can cause skin irritation.
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5G mobile networks. Avoiding exposure to or use of 5G networks doesn't prevent infection with the COVID-19 virus. Viruses can't travel on radio waves and mobile networks. The COVID-19 virus is spreading in many countries that lack 5G mobile networks.
- When applied to surfaces, disinfectants can help kill germs such as the COVID-19 virus. However, don't use disinfectants on your body; inject them into your body or swallow them. Disinfectants can irritate the skin and be toxic if swallowed or injected into the body. Also, don't wash produce with disinfectants.
- Many people take vitamin C, zinc, green tea, or echinacea to boost their immune systems. But these supplements are unlikely to affect your immune function or prevent you from getting sick. The supplement colloidal silver, which has been marketed as a COVID-19 treatment, isn’t safe or effective for treating any disease. Oleandrin, an extract from the toxic oleander plant, is poisonous and shouldn’t be taken as a supplement or home remedy.
- This drug is often used in the U.S. to treat or prevent parasites in animals. In humans, specific doses of ivermectin tablets can be used to treat parasitic worms, and a topical version can be applied to the skin to treat head lice and skin conditions. However, ivermectin isn’t a drug for treating viruses, and the FDA hasn’t approved use of this drug to treat or prevent COVID-19. Taking large doses of this drug can cause serious harm. Don’t use medications intended for animals on yourself.
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Thank you to the 90% of our city workers who did the right thing. For the rest, they’re placing co-workers and city residents at risk. I will continue advocating for mandatory mask-wearing and mandatory weekly testing for all of the employees who are in one of the ‘unvaccinated’ camps. That’s only fair to everyone else who did not choose the medical or religious off-ramp.
Omicron Variant
The O variant continued to spread last week. These 2 maps show a comparison between where COVID is a hot spot vs. where Omicron is now present. This first map is for COVID generally.
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This is the current Omicron international map.
In South Africa, just before Thanksgiving, they were seeing around 200 Omicron cases per day. Last week they had over 16,000 in one day. It’s in many of our major cities now. New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, all over Nebraska, San Francisco. The current thinking is that it is more transmissible than COVID 19 but may cause less severe outcomes. And a part of the reason for that is the number of people we now have vaccinated.
Among the health experts I’ve seen comment on Omicron, the consensus seems to be that we’re at least a couple of weeks away from knowing just how much more transmissible the variant is. The same is true of knowing more about how severe the cases will be. Existing vaccines appear to offer some level of protection though. They do not prevent reinfection by Omicron, but so far, the vaccines appear to be keeping symptoms less severe. That’s good news for the 36% of South Africans who have been vaccinated. But they have a population of 60 million. That’s a lot of unprotected potential hosts. Testing there last week showed a 22% positivity rate.
Each week I share the Rt value for Arizona, Pima County, and the zip code around the UA. It’s the measure of how quickly the virus spreads. Anything above 1 means that we’re seeing community spread. In South Africa, Omicron’s Rt is nearly 2.5x higher than Delta. I’ll have more on our own below.
Experts have a lot to learn about Omicron. In the U.S., Delta is still our main problem. The current Delta surge can be attributed to the failure of so many people to get a vaccine. How that affects Omicron’s spread is an open question.
Flu Shots
We now have a sign on the Ward office door that says, “It’s cold and flu season – everybody entering must wear a mask”. Below I have 2 maps showing how the flu has spread in the past 2 weeks. The first was as of November 13th. The second map is as of November 27th. Be aware of the color key. The lighter green indicates the virus is more present than the dark green – not intuitive.
The short message is that nearly nationwide, the flu season has begun. Arizona’s infection rate moved a bit from ‘minimal’ up towards ‘low’. The time is now to get your flu vaccine. Flu shots are available at most local drug stores. They’re certainly worth considering. They’re free and with so many people now going into stores and other events like COVID wasn’t an issue, expect this season to be a twindemic of the two.
That twindemic is already happening to our neighbor New Mexico. This is the current CDC COVID hot spot map. Interestingly, Georgia and Mississippi are seeing the flu in high numbers, but they’re COVID infections are dropping. Remember, though, a month ago, the southeast was the national COVID hot spot. It shifts around pretty unpredictably, so I’m guessing it’s a fair bet that none of us are out of the COVID woods yet.
Nationally we’re still seeing an uptick in COVID, an uptick in hospitalizations due to COVID, and we’ve been averaging over 1,100 deaths per day from COVID. In Arizona, our daily case counts dropped in the most recent 14-day average, but hospitalizations are still increasing. And we continue to lag the national vaccination rate.
In Pima County, we saw a pretty good level of improvement in average daily cases. Last week I had a chart showing an average of 582 new cases per day and 56 per 100,000. While we’re still solidly in the ‘extremely high risk’ category, the numbers this week are better. And for comparison, the first week in June, we had a total of 130 new cases – for the entire week. We’re nearly 4x that daily now.
I’ll keep my 2020 chart for reference. Keeping those numbers in mind while we wrestle with the new surge – and possibly yet another new variant – is a good reminder to stay cautious. Filling arenas with unmasked people isn’t the wisest course right now.
These are our past 4 month totals:
August – 6,571 new cases
September – 7,198 new cases
October – 8,464 new cases
November – 14,238 new cases
Last week, the first week in December, we had over 3,600 new cases.
Here’s this week’s national risk level map. It’s instructive to scroll back and forth between this and the flu hot spot map I have above. Last year we pretty much dodged a tough flu season because everyone was masked, not going out to large public gatherings, and we were taking COVID more seriously. Most health experts are worried about what’s to come this time around since most of that is not happening now. Hey, I’m a Michigan football fan. They had 107,000 people crammed into their stadium last week for the Ohio State game. Michigan is completely listed in the ‘extremely high risk’ category. There’s a disconnect.
The Pima County health department continues to do what it can to make vaccines available. Here are your options for the mobile clinics this week. They’re still free, and no appointment is needed.
This is their list of standing points of vaccine distribution. I know some of the pharmacies are requiring appointments for both COVID and flu vaccinations, so you should call ahead to be sure.
Go to the Pima County Health site if you want to find the list of pharmacies that’ll give you a dose or if you’re a veteran looking to be vaccinated. Use this link - www.pima.gov/covid19vaccine.
Potter Place Beck House
Let's shift to some good news items. This house was designed by architect John Beck and built in what is now Potter Place back in 1962. On Tuesday, we’ll be voting to assign Historic Landmark status to the home.
Beck was involved in multiple local iconic buildings. Some included the then-new Beth Theta Pi Greek house, Christopher City out on Ft. Lowell and Columbus, the Park Student Union, and the Alvernon Village Shopping Center. Each brought a unique style. Those of you who have been in Tucson for a while will remember Bill Breck Dodge and their showroom. Beck was the designer.
Beck brought some of the open, airy, and overhang style from the Dodge building over to the Potter Place home. Here are a few images.
I’m grateful to the Tucson Historic Preservation group for having shepherded this along the Historic Landmark route. It’s nestled back in Potter Place, across from the Arizona Inn, so you might not ever have run across it. Now it’ll be in place, protected with the new zoning designation.
Holiday Express
After having had to sit out last year, our friends at the Southern Arizona Transportation Museum are back with a family-oriented holiday program. It’s coming Saturday, December 18th, from 10 am until 3 pm. We all anticipate Santa will make himself available, so plan on bringing the kids.
In addition to that direct contact with the guy, there will be opportunities for kids to write him letters at the North Pole, singing holiday music, arts and crafts, and of course access to the train, displays, and the gift shop. Perfect timing for holiday gifts and just some good outdoor fun.
Becton Dickinson
Our study session item related to the new Becton Dickinson (BD) facility has been pushed back to December 21st. In the runup to it, I keep coming across documents and information that lead to some real questions about why this operation has gotten so deeply into the approval system.
To refresh you, the BD facility is in plan review. If approved and built, it will be a business that sterilizes medical equipment. Sun Corridor was involved in recruiting them to the Tucson area. During that process, they reached out to community stakeholders and solicited input. One of those stakeholders is Davis Monthan AFB. Why? Because the proposed 120,000 sq/ft facility is located immediately adjacent to the DM approach/departure corridor. I’ve shared this image previously. The brown area is the corridor. The red is where BD wants to build.
In order to honor non-disclosure agreements, Sun Corridor often gives code names to projects they’re working on. In this case, it was Project Oasis. When asked for their input, DM leadership provided this response. “Susan” is with Sun Corridor.
The additional material more fully described the concerns that aircraft carrying live munitions flying in close proximity to a facility storing toxic materials could result in a catastrophic release that would place the public at significant health risk. This following letter also makes the DM point.
To date, there have been no briefings that I’m aware of to M&C offices that specifically address safety protocols BD is planning, and that the city and county are requiring for the safe handling of Ethylene Oxide. One of the purposes for my 12/21 study session item is to get a better understanding of those plans and to explore what plan is in place to address the catastrophic release DM is concerned about. Knowing that many of the members of Sun Corridor are also involved with certain DM support groups, I’m a bit surprised this project wasn’t made to address the military’s concerns. More on the 21st.
Parks and Recreation Classes
Beginning today, you can go online and register for the full complement of P&R classes. These range from music to movement, jewelry making, photography, and pottery. The classes are geared to all ages. The variety provides ‘something for everyone’.
I know many of you – myself included – are looking forward to when COVID and its variants are behind us, and we can enjoy classes like these without undue concern. Please rest assured that all of the classes will include COVID protocols. Our goal is to introduce what we can in as safe a manner as we can.
Use this link to look over the selections and to register: EZEEreg.com. City residents may begin registering at 8 am. Those living outside the city may begin registering at 11 am. For questions and more information on the classes, please call 791.4877.
And on a similar Parks and Rec note, here’s the December schedule for the Ready, Set, Rec van for Ward 6. The van has activities for all ages. It’s outdoor fun that’s a great diversion from the ‘news of the day'. Please clip the schedule and consider taking part when the van is in a park near you.
RTA – Move Tucson
This week we will be advancing the Move Tucson 20 year transportation plan. Many of you have provided input into priorities for how we invest our dollars. That’s a combination of road repair, multi-modal transportation, amenities found outside the curb lines, and in some areas of town, expanded road capacity. This is the $13B list I’ve had in the newsletter and that we’ve shared with the RTA Board.
What is not included in the plan, we’re discussing on Tuesday is the breakdown on how we fund the work. Right now, we have the existing ½ cent Prop 101 sales tax taking care of part of it. That expires in mid-2022, so we’re looking at a May 2022 voter election on whether and in what form to extend that. We also have the RTA ½ cent sales tax that is also set to expire. That’s coming in 2026, but as I’ve written before, the conversation about our participation and at what amount the RTA will go back to the voters is happening right now. The M&C set a February 1st deadline on whether or not we take part in a Next RTA or if we go it alone.
One piece of the RTA framework we need to see change in is the transparency with which funding decisions are made. Nearly $200M in Tucson projects are un or under-funded right now. Assuring our work is completed will be a big part of our decision on whether or not to participate in the next round of RTA taxation.
Coming this week is another RTA Board meeting. The last item on their agenda is a discussion of funding some major Tucson projects. Here’s how that item is shown on their agenda material:
Both the Broadway and Downtown Links projects are heavy into construction. When they have had funding allocation discussions in the past, they’ve been in public. They’re spending public money after all, so why wouldn’t they be? And while the city is looking at the RTA’s whole governance model, looking at how our projects are being treated, and whether we join with them again, one would think they’d be all about transparency. I raised the issue with some of their Board and received this reply from the RTA attorney:
First, my email to them:
Item #8 on next week's RTA meeting is agendized to discuss funding for a combination of county and city projects. It's also set to be held in executive session. The city has been engaged in serious discussions related to how, when, and at what levels our remaining projects will be funded by the current RTA. We've raised issues surrounding inflation and how the original budgets will be adjusted to account for cost escalation not related to scope creep. And we've raised issues related to when our un-underfunded projects will be completed (prior to 2026, or in Phase 1 of RTA Next?)
Holding the conversation about these issues in the executive session is wholly inappropriate if the RTA board is truly interested in bringing some level of transparency to the RTA process. The entire NOFA process is, and must continue to be a series of very public discussions. These are all public dollars, after all.
I'd suggest moving this item to a public exchange would serve the ongoing city decision-making process well.
A “NOFA” is Notice of Funding Availability. It’s where the RTA divides up available dollars. This is the reply from their attorney:
Subject: [EXTERNAL]RE: RTA 12/9
Councilmember Kozachik:
I’m sure you are aware that the RTA operates within a multi-tiered legal framework. Board members may wish to ask questions about the Board’s rights and responsibilities before making decisions on important matters, like amending project agreements and allocating additional funds. Back in May, the RTA Board held an executive session regarding the legal parameters of RTA project implementation.
We try to accommodate an executive session, with appropriate agenda language, as we anticipate more legal questions from the Board members based on the previous executive session request for legal advice.
And my response back -
Understood - not a good look under the current circumstances. SteveK
Their meeting is on Thursday the 9th. You can find links to join virtually online at www.rtamobility.org. Many of us will be interested in seeing how they conduct this item. If it is held in Executive Session, our representative in that meeting may not give M&C or the public a full accounting of what was said and how the funding decisions were arrived at. How the sausage is made matters.
Harvard Global Health Institute
Once again, the UA didn’t update the Rt data – the spread rate for the virus. The most recent is from November 15th, so it’s pretty much meaningless. Above, I mentioned Omicron in South Africa has an Rt of 2.5x higher than Delta. We’re nowhere near that for our local spread. But as a data point, it’s worth tracking. So here’s the most recent – it's not reflective of our current situation, though.
You can find the UA data at this site: https://covid19.arizona.edu/dashboard.
I’ve been keeping my own weekly count – here are the past couple of months. The comparison is the 130 in the first week of June.
Week of 10/4 - 1,964 new cases
Week of 10/11 - 1,521 new cases
Week of 10/18 - 2,233 new cases
Week of 10/25 - 2,746 new cases
Week of 11/1 - 2,856 new cases
Week of 11/8 - 3,597 new cases
Week of 11/15 - 4,353 new cases
Week of 11/22 - 3,432 new cases
Week of 11/29 - 3,639 new cases
In Pima County, last week, another 45 Pima County residents died from COVID-related causes. Due to how deaths are sometimes reported, the reality is likely higher than that number.
Statewide, we’re over 22,000 COVID deaths since this all began.
Look at this week’s Harvard Global Health Institute risk level map. Keep in mind that this is pretty much all Delta. Any Omicron impact has yet to register in these data. And cold weather, indoor activities, and the holiday gatherings are ahead. Some of this probably shows Thanksgiving impacts. There’s no telling how much reflects athletic events being held with minimal, if any, COVID protocols in place.
As was true of the NY Times risk maps I shared above, the Pima County numbers dropped somewhat in the past week. But they’re still way into the high-risk category. We are nearing 50M COVID cases nationally, and if I was to wager, I’d predict we’ll hit a million deaths. Right now, the U.S. has seen over 787,000 people die from this virus.
You can check what’s going on in your home county by hovering your cursor over it on the Harvard map. Use this link to access it:
https://globalepidemics.org/key-metrics-for-covid-suppression/
Here’s this week’s statewide COVID map. Embedded in those numbers are over 22,000 lives of loved ones lost. They won’t be included in any of the “my liberty” debates some are still having.
Sincerely,
Steve Kozachik Council Member, Ward 6 ward6@tucsonaz.gov
City of Tucson Resources
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