Humanizing Homelessness
I've been sharing the Humanizing Homelessness section weekly for over 3 months now. It was intended to demonstrate the fact that the people we see on the street, in alleys, parks and washes are, well...people. People who have a story. Nobody is born into homelessness. I've wanted us all to hear the stories and understand the variety of backgrounds and conditions that have left people unhoused in our community. Based on the feedback I've gotten the piece has done that many of you have let me know you've appreciated the section.
The intent of my writing these snippets of peoples' lives was also to educate M&C and city staff that we're relying on a Housing First/Housing Only model that simply is not effective in addressing all of the needs in the homeless population. Some of the people I've interviewed might thrive in a shelter setting, or in an apartment. Others would be in and out in a day - or a week, relying on that model as our only tool is unrealistic, wasting money and resources, and is ignoring the reality that we do not have anything close to the bed capacity needed even if all of our homeless population would use it.
Since I began writing these sections we've shifted homeless camps around at Arcadia Wash, Alamo Wash, Alvernon Park, Swanway, Venice and 2nd street, an area in Thunderbird Heights, and at various other midtown locations - alleys, washes, and parks. That’s just Ward 6. It’s happening all over town. Our TPD homeless protocol staff are worn out just rousting the same people from one spot to another. They understand the city policy is not working - and is dehumanizing to the people involved. And they don't set the policy - M&C do that.
I also don't want to leave the impression that all of the homeless people I've approached were willing to take part in what I've been writing. There was the guy outside the ward office who was pretty animated in expressing how upset he was at the demeaning manner in which people treat him, and he was 'not interested in being in your newsletter.' There was the rather young girl who crawled out of her tent at Arcadia and asked for assistance. Then an older guy crawled out and said they weren't interested. Our HCD team moved onto another tent looking for 'clients.' There was the guy who was so strung out that he couldn't coherently share his story - and he asked me to leave because he was feeling ill. I also didn't wake people up when I found them passed out in an alley or in a wash to see if they'd like to take part. And this is a shot of the place a guy is staying - when I explained to him what I was doing he said, "I'm not homeless, and no thank you."
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My writing these, may have been beneficial to many of us, who previously hadn't taken the time to listen and hear the stories of the lives behind the people who are camped out around the city. It has been for me, and yet it has not moved the needle a bit on the city policy of allowing controlled camps in select areas in which we'd provide police and social service resources to support people. Until M&C affirm a policy that will even allow that on a pilot basis in some locations, we'll simply keep having police and code enforcement staff out moving people and cleaning up after them. And we’ll have situations like this where the camps are uncontrolled, and lacking services.
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Here's another reality - we can disallow camping in some areas based on public health and safety needs. Inside a wash, or even on the banks of a wash when it is considered a 'resource area' to preserve vegetative resources or wildlife habitat. But in alleys and other public easements, we can roust to clean, and once the health issue is gone, people can return. That's the frustration our homeless protocol team experiences.
I'll keep pushing for the city to adopt controlled camps where we offer a porta-john, water source, some security/safety element, and regular stops by social service providers who will attempt to get the people into the resources they need. We need low or no-barrier shelters for people with pets, partners and who simply are not going to pass a drug screen. We need to get trauma treatment, drug treatment, mental health treatment - all to the people we're now just moving around to new spots in the city.
Controlled camps are not a solution any more than Housing First/Housing Only is. But right now it's not even a tool because M&C have disallowed it as a matter of policy. This is a map showing where our homeless protocol team has encountered camping around the city. It’s important to recognize that many of the green dots exist as a result of our moving people from one area, and they simply end up in another one nearby. That’s a policy decision that is doing nobody any good.
Cooling Stations
One initiative we’ve implemented to help the unhoused community during our heat is opening some cooling stations throughout the city. When temps hit triple digits, an indoor room will be made available for people to come in, get some water and access to restrooms, and just sit indoors out of the heat of the day. The stations will be open during regular operating hours at this list of community centers – one in each ward of the city.
Sister Jose and the Kaimas Foundation combined efforts last week to purchase some outdoor evaporative coolers. Every day at 4pm, Sister Jose holds their lottery that determines who gets to stay indoors at the center that evening. There are always more women lined up than they have room for. Instead of turning them away, they’ll now let those for whom they don’t have space inside stay under the solar panels in the parking area being cooled by these new evap units.
We at the ward 6 office continue to be grateful to Kaimas and to the staff and volunteers at Sister Jose for the generosity they show when it comes to addressing the needs of the less fortunate.
Gun Control
Out of a sensitivity to the gun advocates I’ve in the past used the phrase ‘gun safety’ laws when describing necessary changes in firearm legislation. No more. Their tired arguments only continue to result in mass murders. We need controls and restrictions on ownership. Over 14 years ago conservative Supreme Court justice Antonin Scalia wrote this:
“Like most rights, the right secured by the Second Amendment is not unlimited. It is not a right to keep and carry any weapon whatsoever in any manner whatsoever and for whatever purpose.”
It took Canada just under 2 weeks after their most deadly mass shooting to enact strict gun control laws. Right after COVID began in 2020 Canada suffered a 12-hour killing spree that took 18 lives. Their Prime Minister Trudeau is quoted as saying “These weapons were designed for one purpose and one purpose only: to kill the largest number of people in the shortest amount of time.” They drew up a list of about 1,500-gun models, including the AR-15 that has been used in so many of our mass shootings. The guns on their list were banned and owners were given 2 years to keep them – but they could no longer use them, trade them or sell them except to buyers from outside Canada who had a permit.
Last week, I suggested 5-gun control measures we should take – banning the sale of military-style semi-automatic weapons to civilians, stricter storage laws, restrictions on the sale of extended magazines, requiring background checks on all sales and (failing the first one) increasing the age for purchasing AR-style weapons to 21. Congress was to come up with some actual changes by the end of last week. The House did pass an attempt at gun control called the Protecting Our Kids Act, H.R. 7910 . Its provisions include increasing the minimum age for buying a semi-automatic to 21 years of age, increased storage rules, making gun trafficking and straw purchases (buying a gun for someone else who is a prohibited possessor) federal crimes, banning the sale of magazines that hold more than 15 rounds, banning bump stocks, banning ‘ghost guns’ (guns without serial numbers,) requiring a report on people who are flagged in background checks, and in a separate bill, the Federal Extreme Risk Protection Order Act of 2021, H.R. 2377 they have proposed “red flag” gun removals.
That’s what happened in the House. But remember your civics classes – the Senate also needs to pass its version before the bills are reconciled and sent to the President. And the Senate can filibuster the issue until 60 members vote to end the filibuster. Unless there are 10 Republicans who will vote that way (maybe 11 members if Arizona Senator Sinema continues to oppose changes in filibuster rules) then we will not have meaningful gun control yet again.
Over the weekend the Senate found 10 Republicans to agree on some gun-related measures. Here’s a thread of tweets from Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut. It describes some of the points of agreement. It still needs to go through the reconciliation process.
A few things this does not do – even if agreed to by the House. It does not mandate background checks on all private gun sales, it does not mandate Red Flag laws, it does not ban the sale of military style semi-automatic weapons to 18-year-olds, and it does not mandate safe-storage laws. It’s nice to see money earmarked for mental health causes – as long as the counseling doesn’t happen in a residential area?
File this away – unless the unthinkable happens and the Senate agrees that we’ve buried enough children, friends and loved ones, this will be next Memorial Days’ dual recognition.
Refugees
Last week, the Washington Post had a lengthy article on the plight of Afghan families who did not get out as a part of our evacuation. Let’s not forget the image of that mess.
The article quotes anonymous administration sources as saying the reunification of families is a ‘high priority’ and that they’re setting up protocols for making it easier for Afghans who made it out to let State and Homeland Security know about their family members. All of that is a diaper load. Nobody is getting out, and those in 3rd world countries like the judge’s family are dragged through a bureaucratic and costly process that takes months, if not years.
I will keep sharing the on-going saga of reuniting the judge and his family until his wife Nilofar and their 2-year-old daughter Kawsar are on the ground in Tucson. Each week we have more to describe that makes it clear just how absolutely broken our refugee process is, and there is nobody actively working on rebuilding it.
This is an image of the American Hospital in Istanbul, Turkey. Looks pretty nice, right? It’s minutes from where Nilofar and Kawsar are living while they await approval to leave.
That hospital has hundreds of medical people employed – and one would imagine many of them are capable of conducting a physical exam. Last week, I shared with you that the U.S. is requiring Nilofar to have a medical exam prior to leaving Turkey. Nothing at all wrong with that, but instead of booking her a time at the hospital minutes from her front door, the State Department tells me the only ‘panel physician’ in the entire country of Turkey who can give the exam is nearly 300 miles away in Ankara.
If you’ve been following this story, you’ll remember that the Turkish government confiscated Nilofar’s passport. They say it was fraudulent – and indeed they arrested the guy who produced it and now have him in jail for 25 years, but they have not returned the passport. Without that, she cannot board a plane or a bus to travel to Ankara, and State advised that she must present a passport at the time of her medical exam. Keep in mind, the judge was shot, had his home bombed, his car bombed and had to move Nilofar to Turkey to avoid her being killed by Taliban. Overlay those facts with the mess the State Department is inflicting on the family.
After I raised this rather basic conundrum with State, they responded to the judge with this email:
We are scheduling a meeting with the Turkish government regarding providing a travel document other than a passport and waiving the passport requirement for the panel physician should not be a problem.
Of more immediate concern is how to get to the panel physician in Ankara. We cannot pay for the transportation or provide it directly ourselves. Can you work with a contact here to arrange a private car and driver to take your wife and child to Ankara and back?
While the reasonable reply might be – ‘can you work with the American Hospital in Istanbul and schedule a medical exam she can walk to?’ - that’s not an option evidently.
I called the embassy-selected hospital in Ankara last Wednesday. You cannot make an appointment over the phone. And they’re closed until Tuesday (tomorrow.) The judge went online and grabbed the first available appointment. It’s July 7th – a month from now. I suppose the good news is that it gives us plenty of time to reserve a taxi for the 600-mile trip.
The month’s long story I’ve been walking us all through is for one family. A high-profile Taliban target family that has been separated for over a year while we can’t figure out how to book a physical exam in the largest hospital in the entire country of Turkey. People are running for Congressional offices all over the country right now. Not a single one of them could describe either how the process is supposed to work, or certainly how flawed it is, and people are dying while State’s “immediate concern” is paying for a taxi that should not be needed.
CCR’s
Last week, residents from a midtown neighborhood were surprised to find racist and offensive language contained in their Covenants, Conditions and Restrictions (CCR’s.) CCR’s are terms drafted by property owners from a defined geographic area that lay out how they want the neighborhood to operate. They’re most common with homeowner’s associations. The city has no role in drafting them, and we have no role in enforcing them.
This is the section of the troubling CCR’s I was asked about last week.
The simple question from the neighbor was how do they get rid of that clause.
I’ve seen very similar language and have been asked the same question by other constituents in the past. The most direct response is that the language is unenforceable on its face because it violates the U.S. Constitution, and it violates federal fair housing laws. I’ve never seen neighborhood association bylaws that do not contain a section that says if any portion of the document is unenforceable, it’s invalid. So, nobody from the neighborhood can point to an offensive clause like that one and try to compel the HOA to enforce it.
While the clause cannot be enforced, most people would prefer to eliminate them from their CCR’s. Changing CCR’s so they’re devoid of racist bilge is a more formal process. It involves getting the consent of property owners, and how that’s navigated is sometimes also found in HOA or neighborhood association bylaws. Since the city is not a party to any aspect of the CCR’s (their formation, enforcement, or alteration,) each neighborhood association should seek counsel from a real estate attorney and get guidance. The answer might vary depending on what other terms exist in the neighbors’ framing documents.
City Mental Health Facility
Last week, I shared the background on a story aired by KVOA related to changing the use of a city-owned house to allow for mental health counseling for city workers. I won’t rehash the description of the services or the operation of the home, except to say that residents from the area protested, the neighborhood board voted to send the city to the Board of Adjustment and the project was placed on hold, pending the results of that process.
The Board of Adjustment is a quasi-judicial process in which a party appeals for a variance from existing codes. For example, TEP recently used that forum to get approval for overgrounding some transmission lines out on Silverbell Road – a scenic corridor and therefore an area requiring undergrounding utilities. The Board much more often than not approves requests for variance.
Late last week, I reached out to the city manager and suggested that we pivot and avoid ‘winning’ a battle with neighbors. We have options for where the counseling facility may go. We also have over 8,500 people on a waiting list for our Section 8 subsidized housing program and other HUD low-income home ownership programs. With rents skyrocketing, that’s an issue throughout the community. We also have a housing crisis and low-income families who are simply priced out of the home ownership market. Actually, all of that exists throughout the country. My proposal was to walk away from the dispute with neighbors, find an alternate site for the much needed and appreciated counseling, and instead turn the house over to our Housing and Community Development department and dedicate it to low-income clients. Given that it’s a residential use, and the area is zoned for residential the city has the liberty to move ahead with assigning the asset to our housing team and get it occupied. In the immediate term we’ll be leasing the unit out to a low-income family. Over time we’re going to put it on the market and deed restrict the sale for low-income residents in perpetuity. That is, anybody who buys it will have to qualify for our low-income home buying programs, and if they sell it, the next buyer will similarly have to qualify.
Housing needs far outstrip housing capacity so I would hope the neighbors will see the value in adding this unit to the stock of housing that will only be available to families who do not have the opportunity of home ownership without some level of support.
I’ll close with this. The mental health support facility for city workers generated what in my opinion were unnecessarily heated responses. There was even a rally in opposition planned for last weekend. My office not only believes the service would have been benign, but it would have also been an important benefit to some city workers. Diana from my office has relatives who were city employees and who have wrestled with stress that was related to their job. Some ability to download with a counselor would have been important. Police Chief Kasmar shared an op/ed about stress related to police work. https://www.azcentral.com/story/opinion/op-ed/2022/05/31/first-responders-need-help-ptsd-tucson-fire-boulder-crest-program/9965875002/. Having this outlet would have served that group of city workers. And I’ll share some thoughts Ann from my staff included in an email to the neighborhood president after I had already nudged this into the affordable housing direction. We in the Ward 6 office believe in what was being proposed, and that comes from personal experience.
Ann’s comments to the neighborhood president: “I also want to share that 3 years ago tomorrow, I fell down a flight of stairs and broke my neck. The physical injuries were hard, but the PTSD was equally as hard, and I still suffer. I am a lucky person who has been able to afford a private therapist that has a home office in a neighborhood right next to Peter Howell. If I had not been able to afford the $150 sessions, I would have gladly gone to a city therapist. I wish that I could say that the same people that I have considered friends would have gladly welcomed me into their neighborhood. Now I know that is not true. I wish that they could see how important it is to receive therapy in a homelike setting. Sorry to interject a level of emotion into the conversation and most of you know I am one tough lady but really, we all need to be a little kinder and help each other get through.”
Thrive Expansion
Along the same lines of housing and development, last week the M&C approved expanding what is now a Ward 3 initiative called Thrive in the 05. I’ve written about it in the past – generally the redevelopment effort happening along Oracle and Miracle Mile, near the Drachman to Ft. Lowell area. There’s HUD money attached and slowly they’re bringing new life back into that area. The idea from our housing folks was to find a new area in which to begin a similar redevelopment effort.
The general criteria for selecting the ‘05’ expansion included things such as identifying areas with high levels of violent crime, areas where we can leverage other on-going planning and investment, having ‘anchor’ institutions in the area such as schools and health care facilities to help bring engagement to the process, and existing neighborhood leadership or community-based organizations that frame the opportunity for broad planning and community involvement. With those criteria in mind, housing proposed three areas for consideration. In reality they recommended the 29th Street area, and from our discussion at the study session it was clear ‘the votes were in’ as soon as people began speaking. But here are the scoring tables presented by Housing and Community Development that formed the basis for the selection.
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In a 5-1 vote, 29th Street was selected. I was the lone dissent. My substitute motion to instead begin with the Grant/Alvernon area failed for lack of a 2nd. Based on the earlier comments by M&C, I was hardly surprised by that.
So why Grant/Alvernon? The ‘data’ allegedly driving the decision was a coin toss. The on-the-ground conditions are clearly in favor of starting with Grant/Alvernon. There are multiple very engaged neighborhoods in the area. They’ve been meeting with police and businesses for over 15 years on the Alvernon Grant Initiative – a program organized and run by neighbors to address crime in the area. There is a Place Network Initiative (PNI) police focus in the area. For anchors staff included Catalina High School and the new El Rio Center. They should have also included Youth on their Own, a domestic violence support facility, Doolen Middle School, The Boys and Girl’s Club, SAAVI for the visually impaired, AGI itself, and substance abuse support clinics. The area has a high number of refugee families. El Rio chose to locate there because of the needs, and because of the potential, and Grant Road is being widened. That means there are vacant parcels of commercially zoned land sitting waiting for the kind of development the ‘05’ project is all about. When we held a meeting out at 29th a couple of weeks ago a handful of people showed up. Holding meetings involving the Grant/Alvernon neighbors always generates a full house.
Staff described “key components” of the Thrive Zone approach as ‘joint leadership composed of neighborhood leaders, city staff, area nonprofits and educational institutions.’ The descriptions and the data all clearly point to Grant/Alvernon. When I pointed that out to staff during our first meeting the reply was ‘the memo is already written.’ Their presentation at the M&C meeting made it clear, even before any discussion that decisions had been made, they had been coached on how to make their presentation and the outcome was predetermined. It’s not uncommon, and it will affect relationships.
On the topic of community involvement in the Alvernon/Grant area, the Alvernon Grant Initiative meets on Tuesday, June 14th beginning at 6pm. They’re back to meeting in person at the Emmanuel Church – 1825 N. Alvernon. Masks are optional – and recommended.
This group has been meeting for over 15 years. Neighbors, businesses, non-profits, and police are all involved. I invite our housing staff and others from M&C to come and take a look. It’s one of the many reasons this area should have been an easy choice for the Thrive expansion.
Treat Bike Boulevard
A very quick update and head’s up on the Treat Bike Boulevard. This is a part of our Prop 407 ‘connectivity’ tax – about $225M over 5 years. Treat, from the Rillito out to Aviation Parkway is being enhanced as a bike boulevard. Starting on Monday, June 20th the city contractor will be closing Treat from 1st Street to 2nd Street to allow crews to build a raised sidewalk and add some ADA-compliant ramps. The plan is for the closure to last about 3 weeks. Local travel will be allowed for people to access driveways, and trash pick-up will continue as usual. And it’s construction, so if there are times when heavy equipment is camped in front of a driveway, they’ll make temporary access arrangements.
PFAS Forum
Reminder for the upcoming PFAS forum I’ll be hosting. Joining will be representatives from DOD, ADEQ, Tucson Water and our city attorney’s office. The meeting will take place on Thursday, July 14th at 6pm – by zoom. Here’s the link.
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84137080185?pwd=K05UK3VJT1kzV1Fmb0FyS0owVzQzQT09
Meeting ID: 841 3708 0185
Passcode: 11111
The Department of Defense has identified 700 military installations around the country that are being investigated for PFAS contamination. By the end of this calendar year, they expect to have finished studying 300 of them. Their hope is to be done with the first phase of studying the issue by early 2024. Our plume is moving faster than that, and therefore the partnership we have with the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality in setting up test wells is important – and appreciated.
In their analysis DOD is looking at some risk factors such as whether communities are located immediately around the military base and whether the community is what’s called a ‘sole source aquifer.’ Tucson checks both of those boxes. That means we should be one of the high priority cities for remediation. But DOD still relies on EPA ‘health advisory’ standards which do not establish a legal contamination level. Many of us are hopeful the current administration changes that ASAP.
Tucson relies on the Colorado River, treated wastewater (we are not sending it to customers,) and groundwater. A little-known fact is that in the ‘70’s city planners were forward-thinking and purchased over 22,000 acres of agricultural land in Avra Valley. The intent was to stop agricultural interests from over-pumping, and to store water in the Avra Valley basin. Having done that is one of the reasons we have stored over 6 years’ groundwater capacity. It is that groundwater that we need to protect from PFAS contamination – and is why we need the DOD to step up the pace of their work.
Join us on the 14th. These updates are important, and they’re interesting.
Water and Energy Conservation
Continuing on the water/climate theme, TEP is asking us to reduce use of electricity during the heat of the day – peak hours from 3pm until 7pm. Since TEP is required to provide electricity 24 hours per day, and use fluctuates throughout the day, getting the power to our outlets during peak hours is a challenge. We’ve all see brown-outs in other parts of the country – and in some pockets of the Tucson/Pima County area. Limiting use during prime time reduces the likelihood of those. This link describes the program: https://www.tep.com/beat-the-peak/
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TEP is asking all of us to be a part of the solution. They’ve asked large industrial users to suspend operation during peak hours. Smaller residential users can also practice some energy conservation measures. For example, crank up your thermostat by a couple of degrees. And time the use of household appliances so they’re not drawing power from the grid between 3pm and 7pm. And you can save water by doing things such as turning off the tap while shaving or brushing your teeth (also saves power with the water heater,) using a full dishwasher rather than washing by hand, and don’t hang out in the shower – quick in/out, and when it’s over 100 degrees outside you really don’t need to turn on the hot water (think electricity savings once again.)
TEP also has a fun way to track how much power they’re delivering from renewables. It’s real-time data in an easy-to-understand format. For example, on Friday evening I signed onto their Clean Energy Tracker and this is the amount of renewable energy they were sending to customers.
A little after 1pm on Sunday, here’s how much renewable power was being generated through TEP’s various sources. You can see how the overall draw on the grid increases in the heat of the day.
And from a cost-savings perspective, you can save your household money by reducing energy use during peak hours. Use this link to see which of their pricing plans works best for you: Pricing Planner tool
Sustainable Tucson
If the city were to adopt the plastic block program I’ve been suggesting, we could put plastic bags to a productive use. They work in the ByFusion blocker machine. Until we’ve taken that step though, plastic bags will continue to be an environmental nuisance. This week’s Sustainable Tucson has that as the focus.
Plastic pollution is a huge issue. We’ve all seen the stories of aquatic wildlife being killed by ingesting plastic waste. And we know the Arizona state legislature prevents local decision making on whether or not to allow the use of plastic bags in our retail stores. Sustainable Tucson has invited Rain Wuyu Liu and Taylor Foerster – both UA professors – to speak on what are some effective communication approaches to getting people to reduce the use of plastic bags. They’ll approach the topic from a variety of ‘messaging’ perspectives. It will be interesting – find the registration link at the Sustainable Tucson site; www.sustainabletucson.org.
ByFusion Blocks
The plastic block projects inched along last week. In the case of the El Rio trash enclosure, the contractor sent a note saying he hasn’t even applied for permits yet. So, they have no start date yet identified. They’ve asked to see some sample blocks – which our general services people have had for well over a month. We might see some progress on that one before the end of the month.
Over at San Gabriel the foundation was poured. While it cures out, we’re scheduling in arrival of the blocks and coordinating completion of the seat (being made from our crushed glass.) We’re shooting for around June 20th for the build-day.
Nothing new to share on the Himmel bench or the dog park ramada.
Community Home Repair
The first $10K we donated to the Community Home Repair Program (CHRPA) is long gone. So, we added another $20K so they can keep taking on projects within Ward 6 for low-income homeowners. The first donation went to 3 cooler replacements, 6 cooler repairs, and AC repair, some drain cleaning, window replacements and ADA work. With the heat climbing all of this is safety and quality of life work.
Community Home Repair does work throughout the city and Pima County. They partner with PCOA, Tucson Medical Center, Southwest Gas, and the interfaith community. We’re happy to be able to support their work. If you know of a low-income homeowner who needs some work done on their house, contact Scott at http://www.chrpaz.org and his team will get it taken care of.
COVID
For the 7th week in a row, COVID cases in both Arizona and Pima County continued to increase last week. I’ve been keeping track of the trend in this table. Statewide there were about 1,600 more cases this past week than during the prior week. For Pima County the week-over-week increase was around 200 new COVID cases.
Here’s the table I’ve been running for the past month+. It shows the consistent increase in case counts.
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Week of
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Pima County
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Arizona
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April 24th
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260 new cases
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2,350 new cases
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May 1st
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510 new cases
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3,911 new cases
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May 8th
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776 new cases
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5,404 new cases
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May 15th
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1,090 new cases
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7,204 new cases
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May 22nd
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1,692 new cases
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11,498 new cases
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May 29th
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1,985 new cases
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13,042 new cases
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June 5th
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2,200 new cases
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14,677 new cases
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There were 40 more fatalities in Arizona last week that were due to COVID. Here’s the county-by-county map of the state showing cumulative COVID cases dating back to the start of this whole mess. Maricopa County is now over 1.3 million cases. Statewide we’ve lost over 30,000 friends and loved ones due to COVID.
Getting tested while the case counts are escalating is doing the responsible thing. If you have symptoms, or if you’ve been around people who do, call, and make an appointment at one of these Pima County Health testing centers.
 And of course, vaccines and boosters continue to mitigate the severity of COVID for those who become infected. Here are this week’s Pima County Health vaccine centers.
For Pima County the positivity rate continues to be north of 23%. But we’re seeing fewer people actually get tested, so the case counts out in the community are likely a significant undercount. These graphs show the trend in both % positive, and testing rates. The data is from the CDC.
The numbers matter. Nationally hospitalizations are on the rise. It’s not always ‘just a bad cold’ if you get it.
You can still order your in-home COVID tests through this website: covidtests.gov. The federal government is making 8 per household available.
The Harvard Global Health Care risk level map is beginning to look more like Christmas – the COVID infection spread from last Christmas, that is. Forget about the Florida ‘all green’ - they just didn’t report numbers again this week. But much of the rest of the country is back in the COVID high risk category. That’s very true of Arizona as well.
Pima County numbers increased again. The 7-day new case count last week was 283, and the daily average p/100,000 people was just under 27. This is what they are now. The trend has placed us back into the Red, high risk for transmission category. It’s the second week in a row we’ve been here – and with the increased case counts we’re only getting deeper into that risk category.
Flu is still under control in Arizona. Nevada and New Mexico, both right on our border are having a tough flu season. Here’s the current flu infection map for the nation. Florida is getting whacked with both the flu and the COVID virus.
 A lot of people are just ignoring COVID now. Certainly, vaccines and boosters have allowed us that luxury. No vaccine is forever. Please keep track of your own timing and stay up to date on that protective measure.
Sincerely,
Steve Kozachik
Council Member, Ward 6
ward6@tucsonaz.gov
City of Tucson Resources
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