LD9’s July virtual town hall was July 23, 2020. The format was a bit different for the this town hall because the LD9 team of Senator Victoria Steele and Reps. Randy Friese and Pamela Powers Hannley shared the stage with educators Leila Counta (TUSD School Board member), Taylor Cleland, and Nathan Davis (Amphi School Board Candidate) for the first 30 minutes.
We had a rousing discussion on the safety of opening up Arizona schools during the pandemic, with presentations from the educators and comments and questions from the Legislators and participants. What is TUSD doing? What is Amphi doing? How are teachers preparing for the unknown? The education video is a bit long because it includes the three presentations, plus the Q&A session. (Pop some popcorn and watch it. It’s worth it.)
Following the education discussion, Dr. Friese offered an update on promising COVID19 data from a national task force on which he serves. This video segment includes much discussion and a detailed Q&A. He discusses the differences between different COVID19 tests; the status of hospital beds; the importance of keeping bars, gyms, large venues, pools and tubing closed; the stealthy nature of the virus; and post-COVID19 complications for survivors. If you don’t think you need a mask, watch this video.
For the finale, Steele gave us an update on the pandemic unemployment (which is scheduled to expire as of this writing — very bad) and on housing relief for renters (which was extended but seems complicated).
Thanks for your support. Please check out the videos. Stay safe. Wear a mask. We will have a different world at the end of this. Let’s make it a healthier, more equitable, more sustainable, and less stressful one.