Round Up Saturday 3/28/20

By
Brenda Konkel
-
round up

This is mostly updates to alders.  Daily Round up, elections, emergency orders, schedule of allowed committee meetings, response to metro drivers and more.

DAILY ROUND UP TO ALDERS

From: Obeng, Kwasi
Sent: Friday, March 27, 2020 6:28 PM
To: All Alders <allalders@cityofmadison.com>
Subject: Daily round up for 3/27/20

Good evening Alders,

Please see a round of updates from today.

From Governor:

Gov. Tony Evers today directed Wisconsin Department of Health Services (DHS) Secretary-designee Andrea Palm to temporarily order the suspension of evictions and foreclosures amid the COVID-19 public health emergency. The order can be found here.

The order prohibits landlords from evicting tenants for any reason unless failure to proceed with the eviction will result in an imminent threat of serious physical harm to another person and mortgagees from commencing civil action to foreclose on real estate for 60 days. Wisconsinites who are able to continue to meet their financial obligations are urged to do so. This order does not in any way relieve a person’s obligation to pay their rent or mortgages.

Also,

Gov. Tony Evers today Wisconsin Department of Health Services (DHS) Secretary-designee Andres Palm today exercised their authority under Article V, Section 4 of the Wisconsin Constitution and Sections 323.12(4) and 252.02(6) of the Wisconsin Statutes to simplify healthcare license renewals during the COVID-19 public health emergency and to encourage recently retired professionals with expired licenses to re-enter practice. This order is available here. It provides an avenue for licensed out-of-state practitioners to practice in Wisconsin without first requiring an in-state credential. It also eliminates time limits for temporary licenses.

The order also has provisions designed to enable nursing students close to graduation to be a part of the state’s COVID-19 response by adjusting some clinical education requirements. It suspends practice restrictions for advanced practice nurses, enabling them to more efficiently and effectively respond during the COVID-19 crisis. Finally, the order provides flexibility to physician assistants in order to meet the current unpredictable changes in emergency needs.

From The Engineering:

Slight risk of severe storms tomorrow,

Scattered thunderstorms will likely affect southern Wisconsin Saturday from mid afternoon into mid evening.  A few storms may become severe producing large hail and strong wind gusts.  An isolated tornado is still possibly mainly south or southwest of Madison closer to where a warm front may be situated. Localized rural and urban street flooding will also be possible.

Also, we are expecting gusty winds to develop for later Saturday night into Sunday where some gusts may reach 35 to 40 mph.

Forecast Information

Where: South central, southeast and east central Wisconsin

What: Risk of a severe thunderstorm producing hail to 1″ and damaging winds to 60 mph.  Small risk of rural and urban street flooding.

When: 4 pm to 9 pm CDT Saturday.

Impacts:  Isolated structural damage from large hail and strong winds.  Falling tree limbs may cause isolated power outages.  Localized rural and urban street flooding.

Also,

Engineering is changing mowing approach for the spring, which will be better for taxpayers and the environment.

Press release: https://www.cityofmadison.com/news/sounds-of-spring-engineering-changes-mowing-approach

From The EOC:

The EOC is requesting that alders get the word out and blog on the following:

REGISTER TO VOTE AND REQUEST AN ABSENTEE BALLOT

You can still register to vote until March 30th at My Vote Wisconsin. Once you are registered, you can request an absentee ballot by mail online at My Vote Wisconsin or by sending an email to voting@cityofmadison.com. Please include your name, address at which you are registered to vote, email address to which the ballot should be sent, and a copy or picture of your voter ID (if not already on file in the Clerk’s Office). The deadline to request an absentee ballot is 5:00 pm the Thursday before the election (April 2).

Absentee ballots must be received in the Clerk’s Office in time for delivery to the polls on Election Day (April 7th)

CURBSIDE VOTER REGISTRATION AND ABSENTEE VOTING

Curbside voter registration and absentee voting is now available through April 3rd to all residents. Curbside voting is open from 8:00AM-6:00PM outside of 210 Martin Luther King Jr Blvd.

Due to COVID-19 precautions for the April 2020 Election, the City of Madison has reserved parking meters on the 200 block of Martin Luther King, Jr., Boulevard for any City of Madison voter to register and/or vote from the curb.  Just pull up to a parking meter in front of the City-County Building or Madison Municipal Building with a “No Parking – Police Order sign.”  If you have a cell phone, you can call the number posted on the sign at the meter to begin the curbside voting process.  Otherwise, wave at one of our election officials standing in front of the building, wearing a bright yellow vest.  Two officials will bring your ballot to your vehicle and will check your voter ID at your vehicle.  If you have your own pen to use, wave it at the officials as they approach your vehicle.  (Note, we are sanitizing clipboards and pens after each use.)

If you had the Clerk’s Office mail you an absentee ballot, and you need a witness, you may use the curbside voting process for that purpose. You can also read about other options for witnesses here: https://cityofmadison.com/clerk/news/voters-in-need-of-a-witness

SIGN UP TO BE A POLL WORKER

The City of Madison is in need of hundreds of poll workers for the April 7th election. To become a poll worker, sign up on the City of Madison Clerk’s website.

From IT:

Alders should expect to hear from IT regarding a test run of the Council meeting on Monday at 3pm.  A legal notice of possible quorum will be  posted to that effect.

From Public Health:

COVID-19 Information Update 3/27/20

Main Messages:

      • Dane County Executive Parisi and Madison Mayor Rhodes-Conway jointly issued a news release explaining that coronavirus is spreading and minimizing contact, quarantine orders, and isolation procedures are our best tools to save lives. Public Health also released this graphic to stress the importance of monitoring for symptoms since every time we leave our homes, we might be exposed.
      • Dane County has an wireless emergency alert (WEA) system, and we are planning to send a county-wide message today that reiterates messaging from this morning’s news release. The message will simultaneously go to all WEA capable smart phones in Dane County. The system delivers a special alert tone and a text-based message. The message will also go to 3,000 Dane County public alert system email and text subscribers at the same time.

3/27 COVID-19 News Roundup

Kwasi K. Obeng, Chief of Staff

Common Council Office

ELECTIONS UPDATE

Good evening/morning,

A fair bit of ups and downs in this update.

Poll Worker Push

We have had at least 885 election official cancellations for the April election. However, we have had some election officials, who were initially slotted to work half they day, indicate they could work the full day. The mayor sent around an email to all city employees to recruit them as poll workers. This evening, I sent around an email to our licensed operators (bartenders/clerks/cashiers) to inform them of our need for election officials. We would greatly appreciate any advertisement you could provide. Here are the key points that were found in the mayor’s and my notices:

If you are under 60 and don’t have underlying health conditions, we could use your help staffing our polling locations on Election Day (April 7th). Here is some additional information about the job:

      • You’ll be paid for your work. The City of Madison pays an hourly living wage at $13.62/hour.
      • Choose from multiple shifts. There are multiple shifts for poll workers on April 7th. The morning shift is 6:00 am to 1:30 pm. Afternoon/evening shifts are 1:00 pm until close or 4:00 pm until close.
      • We’re taking extra safety precautions. Polling locations are being planned to provide for social distancing and all poll workers will have gloves to wear. There will also be hand sanitizer and disinfectant at each location, and poll workers are asked to clean touch screens and voting booths regularly, and disinfect pens after each use.  Poll worker training is also being offered as a webinar this year instead of in-person.

Poll workers must be at least 18 years old, a United States citizen, a resident of Dane County for at least 10 days, have never been convicted of a felony, and not disqualified from voting.

For more information and to sign up online, visit www.cityofmadison.com/EO.

Polling Place Update

Going into yesterday morning, we were given an update on our polling place situation as it stood. MMSD will allow us use of their buildings as polling place; which is a relief, since they are 23 of our polling places. We have about 60 of our 92 polling places confirmed to allow us usage on April 7. I’ve attached a map of our polling places around the city and where they stand regarding our use. Our polling place team from Planning will continue their work in making sure we have enough polling place or at least room to consolidate with minimal travel for our voters from their residences.

Out of Labels

We’ve run out of labels again. More labels have been ordered and are on the way. This is probably the best time for this to happen, because there are no mailing activities going on this weekend. Clerk staff will be at our annex today to begin, and hopefully conclude, the testing of all of our election equipment ahead of the election. The labels should be to our office on Monday, just in time to keep things moving along.

More Outside Help

I spent much of today sending certifications of training completion from 20 city employees from either Madison Public Libraries or Building Inspection to get their access to help process absentee ballots. This will allow us to hit the ground running on Monday.

Somewhat related to outside help, our office was made aware of the ability for those of us who are working remotely to patch into our office’s main office line to answer calls. The few of us remaining in the office have been bombarded with calls, especially by voters concerned by the Voter Participation Center mailings I mentioned yesterday. So those of us, like myself, who are working from home because of childcare or health issues can help our colleagues on site.

This concludes my updates for this week. I’ll send something around on Monday; hopefully great news about the overwhelming number of applications for poll workers we received over the weekend. Have a good weekend, alders, and be well.

Sincerely,

Jim Verbick, Deputy Clerk

City of Madison City Clerk’s Office

Polling Place Basemap

HOMELESS SERVICES CONSORTIUM UPDATES

No round up of issues.

Regarding Tony Evers Order on Evicitons

Greetings,

Governor Evers just issued Emergency Order #15. This is a suspension of evictions and foreclosures for 60 days. You can read the order here – https://content.govdelivery.com/attachments/WIGOV/2020/03/27/file_attachments/1412941/EO%2015%20Ban%20on%20Evictions%20and%20Foreclosures%20PDF.pdf.

For those who are working with renters and homeowners who may be facing homelessness on account of losing income, this is very good news. Please note that this is not a get-out-of-paying-rent-free card. Please advise people who are still able to pay their rent or mortgage to continue to do so – so that they may avoid action once after 60 days.

Also, for those working with renters, please be advised regarding the language in Emergency Order #12 (Safer-at-Home order) – under “Prohibited activities” it states: “Landlords or rental property managers shall avoid entering leased residential premises unless emergency maintenance is required.”

If you have any questions about this or other homelessness issues as we continue our work in the face of this challenge, please don’t hesitate to let me know. And thank you, all, for everything you are doing during these times. It’s seen and appreciated.

Michael Basford | Director
Department of Administration
Interagency Council on Homelessness
Mike.Basford@Wisconsin.gov
Direct: (608) 266-3633

MEMO ABOUT CITY COMMITTEE MEETINGS

To: Madison Common Council

From: Council President Bidar and Mayor Rhodes-Conway

Re: Committee Meeting Schedule for April and May

March 27, 2020

Attached you will find a tentative schedule of board/commission/committee meetings for April and May. This schedule may be altered as circumstances change.

As you are aware, IT has been working diligently to enable Tuesday’s council meeting to be conducted entirely remotely as a virtual meeting. This will be a critical test of our capacity to hold meetings virtually while allowing for public input and ensuring compliance with open meetings law. Based on our experience with Finance Committee, and what we have observed in the preparations for the 3/31 CCEC and Council meetings, it is clear that it is taking many hours of time from at least a dozen staff to prepare for and facilitate these online meetings.

We understand that more boards/commissions/committees are eager to be up and running and we appreciate that we have staff and committee members dedicated to moving the work of the city forward. Please understand that we are balancing that against staff capacity, implementing new technologies, and processes for virtual meetings as well as providing access to our meetings using an equity lens.

Hopefully, our collective test of the new system IT has built for us will go well, and we will be able to roll it out to the committees on the attached tentative schedule and plan on adding additional committee meetings. Please remember, however, that each new body added will need equipment support and training in the platform.

Finally, in order to help reduce the staff time needed and equity issues as it relates to public participation, we are asking staff who manage reinstated committees to only take up critical items. One way of managing this efficiently is through the use of consent agendas that are set in advance (like the Council does).

Thank you for your patience and hard work during this very challenging time.

April – May 2020 Committee Meetings

BCC April May Memo

CONSENT AGENDA ITEMS DUE EARLY

From: Veldran, Lisa
Sent: Friday, March 27, 2020 4:13 PM
To: All Alders <allalders@cityofmadison.com>
Subject: Link to Common Council Agenda March 31, 2020 & Items to Be Pulled From Consent Agenda

Online Link to March 31, 2020 Common Council Agenda

Online Link to March 31, 2020 Common Council Agenda ATTACHMENTS

Please let me know by 12 noon on Monday, March 30, 2020  if you wish to have any agenda item(s) pulled off the consent agenda.

I will add the item(s) to the exclusion list to be used by Council President Shiva Bidar when she presents the consent agenda that evening.

What is a consent agenda?

Typical consent agenda items are routine, procedural decisions, and decisions that are likely to be noncontroversial.

Examples include:

      • Routine matters such as appointments to committees;
      • Routine resolutions approving plans, improvements, etc.
      • Reports provided for information only;
      • Correspondence requiring no action.

Why is a consent agendas used?

The consent agenda is used by the Council to save meeting time and to help ensure that Council meetings focus on substantive topics that are worth discussion. Through the “bundling” process, the entire set of routine agenda items can be voted on in one action versus taking the time to vote on each individual item.

What is the exclusion list?

These are agenda items that alders have requested be taken off the consent agenda.  The main reason an alder asks for an agenda item to be excluded is that they want to discuss/debate the item at the Council meeting.

Please note that public hearing items are never included on the exclusion list.  They are specifically scheduled and taken up by the Common Council at 6:45 p.m.

ATTORNEY MEMO ON MAYOR’S EMERGENCY PROCLAMATION

Emergency Proc and reso OCA Memo

Mayor Emergency Order032620

March 27, 2020

TO: Madison Common Council
FROM: Michael P. May
City Attorney

RE: Mayoral Emergency Proclamation, Emergency Order and Resolutions

Agenda Item 18 (Legistar 60077) and others

Several items on the March 31 agenda relate to the ongoing COVID-19 emergency and the Mayoral issuance of an Emergency Proclamation. This memo is to explain those items.

1. Emergency Proclamation and Resolution.

The most significant item is the resolution declaring an emergency in Madison, Agenda Item 18 (Legistar 60077). Under Wisconsin state law and MGO sec. 3.19, the Council declares an emergency. The Mayor may also declare an emergency, and submit a resolution to the Council to confirm the emergency. This agenda item is the resolution to confirm the Mayor’s Emergency Proclamation of March 23, 2020.

The Council has the authority to pass the resolution as presented, which would affirm the Mayor’s Emergency Proclamation in all respects. The Council may also amend the resolution, which has the effect of amending the Emergency Proclamation on a prospective basis. If the Council defeats the resolution, the Mayor’s Emergency Proclamation has no further effect in the future. The Council’s actions are prospective only; they do not render the Proclamation amended or ineffective retroactively.

This resolution and the Emergency Proclamation it would affirm should be viewed as establishing the framework for future emergency actions by the Mayor and the Council during the COVID-19 crisis. I will refer to this as the “Primary Emergency Proclamation.” This resolution adopting the Primary Emergency Proclamation grants the Mayor broad power to suspend or modify City policies, resolutions and ordinances, provided all of such actions that relate to Council legislation is to be presented to the Council for confirmation. The resolution adopts the language of the Proclamation and allows the Mayor to:

. . . after consultation with the City

Attorney, issue orders to suspend the operation of, amend, create, or adopt city policies or ordinances, and suspend enforcement actions, that are not in conflict with existing state or federal laws, in order to mitigate the effects of the coronavirus pandemic on city workers, residents of, and businesses within the City of Madison. This includes the power to extend deadlines, waive penalties, issue permits or licenses, contract or waive contractual terms, or such other actions as are appropriate to protect the health, safety and welfare of the City and its residents.

That broad power is tempered

by the requirement that any changes to legislation – resolutions and ordinances – must be presented to the Council in the form of a resolution to confirm the Mayor’s actions. Those resolutions (a number are on the agenda and will be discussed below) are subject to adoption, amendment or defeat by the Council. The Proclamation and resolution provide:

To the extent any such actions by the Mayor affect a legislative enactment of the
Common Council, the actions shall be presented in a resolution to the Common
Council at the next regularly scheduled meeting when the resolution may be
considered. By the resolution, the Council will affirm, rescind, or amend any of
the orders issued by the Mayor.

The resolution does not require that administrative actions by the Mayor – for example, emergency modifications to APMS – be confirmed by the Council because this power resides with the executive, not the legislative, branch.

Thus, the Council is being asked in this resolution to approve a structural framework for the City to address pressing issues arising out of the COVID-19 crisis. The framework allows the Mayor to take immediate action, subject to approval by the Council.

2. Subsequent Emergency Order and Resolutions.

Acting under the authority of the Primary

Emergency Proclamation, the Mayor issued an order (the “Subsequent Emergency Order”) on March 26, granting a series of waivers and modifying deadlines in the ordinances. Pursuant to the Proclamation, resolutions to confirm those actions are being introduced for referral at this meeting. Those resolutions are at agenda items 88-106 and 108 (Legistar items 60085-87, 60090, 60107-09, 60111-17, 600120-24, and 600126). A summary of them and their intent can be found in the Mayor’s Subsequent Emergency Order, which is being emailed with this memo.

These resolutions are being referred to the Council meeting of April 21, and questions about them may be fielded prior to that time. These resolutions do, however reflect the types of matters that will be addressed by the Mayor during the emergency period. Most are items to give relief of some sort to Madison’s residents, non-profits and businesses, or to make it easier for staff to address the crisis. As with the Primary Emergency Proclamation, these subsequent resolutions may be approved, amended or defeated by the Council.

CC: Department and Division heads

METRO TRANSIT’S COMMUNICATION WITH TEAMSTERS

Response to Petition 3 26 2020 fnl

Dear Alders, TPPB, and TC Members,

The last two weeks have been very busy at Metro Transit as we have worked to respond to COVID-19.  I know that you are interested in Metro Transit and I wish to keep you informed.

On Monday evening, the Mayor and I received an email from workers at Madison Metro Transit presenting a petition. Yesterday I sent an email to the Teamster’s Business Agents responding to the petition.  Attached is a copy of the communication to the Teamsters and the issues presented to the Mayor.  Please review this information and let me know if you have questions.

Please do not respond to this email.  If you have questions, contact me separately.

Best Regards,

Natalie Erdman

Interim Transit General Manager

– – –

Dear Rick and Larry,

The Mayor and I received the attached petition from Metro Transit workers. You have been helpful in bringing your members’ concerns, such as these, and ideas to us so that we can respond. I would like to continue that constructive relationship in regards to the requests set forth in the attached petition.

On March 11, 2020, there were two cases of COVID-19 in Dane County and the City of Madison was fully open and maintaining normal levels of service.

In the last two weeks, we have implemented the following changes to our service to minimize our driver’ exposure including:

  • Reducing capacity on buses to only 15 people including the driver
  • Restricting passengers to only boarding/exiting the bus through the rear door
  • Suspending fare collection (to minimize contact with driver at front of the bus)
  • Reducing service to Saturday schedules with select commuter routes also operating. This significantly reduces the number of drivers out on the street.
  • Scheduling buses so that no more than 1 driver is driving a particular bus in any given day and allowing for cleaning after each use.
  • Redeploying drivers to assist with cleaning and wiping down buses with disinfectant.
  • Fogging or wiping down all assigned buses every night so that drivers are getting into a cleaned bus each day.

We are also stressing to all of our employees that it is imperative that they all:

  • Maintain social distancing of 6ft or more if in contact with someone for more than 10 minutes.
  • Do not congregate in groups of more than 10 people.
  • Wash hands frequently for 20 seconds or more.
  • Cover coughs and sneezes with an elbow or tissue and dispose of the tissue.
  • Refrain from touching their face.
  • Stay home and contact their supervisor if they are showing symptoms such as fever, dry cough, or shortness of breath.

In addition, the City has provided 10 days of Emergency Paid Leave to City employees including those at Metro Transit to allow employees needing to take time off for COVID-19 related issues the ability to do so without using other leave balances or going without pay.

We look at this as a continuing process of improvement and are confident that you will
work with us to respond to questions and provide ideas that will make our employees
and passengers safer. In the attached petition, Transit workers have demanded the
following:

1. Back door entry and exit for passengers – suspend all fare collection during the crisis. Only passengers with wheelchairs should be using the front door, to minimize exposure to both drivers AND passengers. Schedule paratransit service whenever possible for passengers with wheelchairs.

Metro’s Response:
We agree and have instituted most of this request; however, we will continue to allow passengers with a wheelchair to choose the method of public transit that best meets their need.

2. Hazard pay for essential workers. We are putting our lives on the line and being exposed to everything out there. We need to be compensated accordingly. Time and a half pay for all workers who must be present at work.

Metro’s Response
We appreciate the concerns behind this request yet are unable to meet it. There are many City workers exposed to risk including EMT’s, Health Department workers, Streets workers, and Water Utility field staff in addition to police and fire fighters. These other groups are serving our community, just as the Teamsters are, yet are not making hazard pay.

3. Proper safety equipment. Masks and gloves as soon as they are available. Temporary safety shields in front of drivers like they have at grocery stores. Tyvek suits while blowing out buses and other safety equipment for workers servicing buses – the virus doesn’t stop when the bus comes back into the garage.

Metro’s Response

      • Gloves have been made available.
      • Masks: The World Health Organization indicates masks are not needed for healthy
        individuals unless they are caring for a person who is sick that can’t be masked. (1 World Health Organization – https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/advice-for-public/when-and-how-to-use-
        masks) Surgical masks are in short supply and being prioritized for first responders and individuals with the virus being served by the healthcare sector, and therefore we are not able to provide drivers with masks. As supplies and guidance change, we will re-evaluate this measure.​
      • Temporary safety shields—we are exploring this measure. The installation logistics
        and availability of materials may prevent immediate implementation.
      • Tyvek Suits–We will explore this measure.

4. Bathrooms NOW and ALWAYS. The City does not provide restrooms for drivers,
making us depend on private businesses who don’t always welcome us. These
businesses are now closed. We need sanitary facilities immediately, particularly for
females, and when this is over the City MUST PROVIDE BATHROOMS.

Metro’s Response
Portable toilets have been provided at the transfer points including at Main Street
and MLK on the square with restricted access for Metro Transit drivers. We acknowledge this concern and are committed to working on a long term restroom
solution.

5. Limit Exposure During Emergency Scheduling. This pandemic is expected to go on for months. Emergency scheduling needs to be fair and shouldn’t overlap shifts. The new weekly picks need to be consistent with four-day work weeks.

Metro’s Response
We believe the new reduced schedule addresses concerns set forth in this demand. The current reduced schedule has significantly reduced the number of drivers on the road, eliminated mid-route changes of drivers, and created a significant number of 4 day work weeks. Details of the schedule are set forth below.

The new reduced schedule pick has:

      • 129 regular runs with 4 day work weeks averaging ~32-38 hours per week.
        Drivers are guaranteed pay for a 40 hour week.
      • 13 run with 5 day work weeks/ weekends off 35 extra board runs M-F rotating
        for pieces of work
      • Weekend extra board is on a volunteer basis
      • Re-deployed pick for working in the Shop is 5 day work week, 8h24m paid
        hours per shift. We had just over 32 slots filled for the Shop.

I will have Labor Relations schedule a daily briefing via phone conferencing with Local
695. I look forward to getting through this pandemic together. Thank you to your
members for their service at this time.
Best Regards,

Natalie Erdman
Interim Transit General Manager

COMMUNICATION TO ALDERS FROM EOC

Good morning,
We want to keep you informed as we continue to respond to COVID-19. It’s been a busy week for the City’s emergency operations center, and now a joint information center is established as well with the City’s professional communicators. We will continue to keep you updated as we move forward on new resources and more.  We’re working on a new, easier look for our public COVID-19 website, social media strategies to share information and more.

From Public Health: As of March 27 at 8:30am, there are 138 people who have tested positive for coronavirus in Dane County. Get up-to-the-minute data on their new data dashboard

Here are a couple of messages, important resources to be aware of as we head into the weekend:
City updates:

Governor updates:

Don’t forget these important resources from the Employee Assistance Program about managing stress and anxiety along with leading your team through COVID-19:https://www.cityofmadison.com/employeenet/coronavirus/employee-assistance-program
Internal Site to All City Employees: https://www.cityofmadison.com/employeenet/coronavirus
External Site for the public: https://www.cityofmadison.com/health-safety/coronavirus

If you have updates to either sites, please email them to COVID-19Updates@cityofmadison.com

Thank you,
Hannah

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