Round Up – Thursday, April 9th

By
Brenda Konkel
-
round up

Alder and homeless services updates, housing hotline, Dane County Parks open, any more mayoral orders?, city committees that are allowed to meet, bloopers and more.

ALDERS DAILY ROUND UP – 4/9/20

From Your Common Council Office:

We will be having a special CCEC meeting this evening at 6p. All alders are invited to  discuss the Council’s role during the crisis and during the recovery stage.

As of 4/7/2020

Wisconsin is ranked #2 as the state with the second-most complete census forms at 53.4% (Minnesota is #1)

Dane County is ranked #8 of the counties in Wisconsin at 60.6%

Madison is ranked #195 of Wisconsin cities at 58.1%

https://public.tableau.com/profile/us.census.bureau?utm_campaign=20200408msdvzs1ccdtanl&utm_medium=email&utm_source=govdelivery#!/vizhome/2020CensusSelf-ResponseRankings/RankingsDashboard

From the Governor’s Office:

Gov. Tony Evers today directed the Department of Natural Resources to close several state parks to protect the health and safety of Wisconsinites.

Due to unprecedented crowds, litter, vandalism and out of an abundance of caution to protect public health and safety and help flatten the curve, Wisconsin State Parks, Forests and Recreational Areas will close at the end of the day Thurs., April 9, and will remain closed beginning Fri,, April 10, until further notice.

Gov. Tony Evers today announced that the Army Corp of Engineers has officially been engaged by his administration and has already begun mobilizing at the Exposition Center at Wisconsin State Fair Park to begin the development of an alternative care facility (ACF). The Army Corp of Engineers has partnered with states throughout the country to build ACFs to support existing, local medical infrastructures in response to the spread of COVID-19.

Gov. Tony Evers today issued Emergency Order #22 to position the Wisconsin Department of Safety and Professional Services (DSPS) to continue providing its critical services by giving it flexibility to adapt to the new environments and circumstances due to the COVID-19 public health emergency. It covers a range of service areas and constituents, including fire departments, construction services, physical therapists and certified public accountants—all of which have faced new challenges as a result of this public health emergency.

“I cannot think of a single aspect of life that COVID-19 has not touched. The longer this goes on, the more people are struggling,” said Gov. Evers. “We need to take steps to alleviate stress where we can, so individuals can focus on more immediate needs and not worry about administrative deadlines and time constraints. We need the flexibility in state government to adapt to the situation at hand and prioritize efforts that will help us better protect health and safety.”

First responders are always critical to maintaining health and safety, but COVID-19 is demanding even more of our fire departments. Right now, fire departments must work even harder to keep employees well while still executing their duties and serving their communities. That is why this order extends reporting deadlines for the “2 percent fire dues program,” which provides fire departments with funding for equipment, training, and other operations. Fire departments now have until June 1, 2020 to file. The order also gives fire departments greater discretion to postpone inspections or public fire education training so that they can focus more of their energy and effort on immediate health and safety needs.

COVID-19 is also forcing the healthcare system to quickly expand facilities and service. This order streamlines the construction process for critical structures so that we have the spaces we need to provide healthcare to those suffering from COVID-19. The order also suspends specific time limits for conducting inspections and issuing permits on non-critical buildings, making it easier for DSPS and partnering municipalities to adjust to changing processes and prioritize critical buildings, such as isolation centers.

Other elements of the order extend exam deadlines for certified public accountant candidates, since most testing centers are currently closed. Also, some face-to-face requirements for physical therapists and physical therapy assistants are temporarily suspended. This enables them to use technology to evaluate performance and patients during the public health emergency. Finally, the order enables DSPS to take more steps to better protect staff and customers. With in-person interaction discouraged, the order gives DSPS the authority to limit paper plan submission by contractors in a variety of construction fields.

“The world is changing, and we can change with it,” said DSPS Secretary-designee Dawn Crim. “This order positions us to prioritize and facilitate critical work. It also enables us to extend the flexibility that our customers and constituents need right now. That way we can all focus on what is most important and do everything we can to keep our fellow Wisconsinites safe.”

From CDD:

We received e-mails pleading for help to assist a family reportedly being evicted from the Microtel Inn.  The Microtel is not evicting guests; it is closing.  It is closing for lack of business; today, only 12 of 100 units were occupied – 9 of them by occupants being supported by social service agencies that require confidentiality.  Housing accommodations have been secured for all of the occupants of those 9 units.  The family about whom today’s e-mails were focused was not among them, but they, too, have secured housing with help from a local church group.

The Microtel is not connected, in any way, with the effort in which the City and County have placed, now, some 325 persons experiencing homelessness in local hotels.  I don’t doubt that school staff had the best intentions with their plea for help but sending the e-mail as they did today in so many different directions was not helpful.  Instead, it caused a lot of busy people to spend a lot of time duplicating efforts.  We have a system in place to respond to housing needs in our community.  But it only works if it is used.  I encourage alders to use the housing helpline, recently established to help field and respond to housing related calls.  I’ll resend information about it to everyone in just a bit.

So, thank you for expressing your concerns about today’s inquiry.  Rest assured that family has been assisted and know that our staff is doing everything possible to respond when and where we can.

From Public Health:

Please see our news release in English and Spanish urging residents to continue to follow the Safer at Home order to slow the spread of COVID-19 and flatten the curve.

As of April 9 at 8:30am, there are 310 people who have tested positive for coronavirus in Dane County.

4/9/20 AM COVID News Roundup

ALDERS DAILY ROUND UP 4/8/20

From Your Common Council Office:

Council leadership met briefly with the Mayor and her staff. Council Vice-President Harrington-McKinney was unable to attend due to some technology issues. Council President Bidar confirmed that we will be having a special meeting of the Executive Committee tomorrow at 6p to continue discussions among alders about their role during and after the pandemic crisis.

Council President Bidar has been working with Deputy Mayor Orrantia to address and facilitate conversations around language access during this pandemic with an emphasis on best practices etc.  Council President Bidar expressed an interest based on her role on the Committee addressing community development.  She stated that in her other civic duties, there is a great need for some form of government relief especially in communities of color. Some of the conversations are around sustaining small businesses in Dane County and concerns around the health disparities manifesting in this Covid-19 crisis.

The Mayor and I affirmed that staff, including our legislative analyst, is conducting research to identify various tools at the City’s disposal  to offer assistance.  The mayor stated that aside from redirecting funds to offer relief and support to the homeless community, the Community Development Division is working with its existing partners to identify what assistance the City can provide with its limited resources.  The Mayor also stated that  Public Health is tracking data so as to identify any trends in disparities in impacts of the pandemic, particularly in communities of color.

I mentioned that I had received several emails from alders with concerns from residents about gatherings in city parks. The Mayor and her Chief of Staff expressed that The Parks Department is working on increasing signage at parks as well as pursuing other measures like zip tying swings and basketball nets etc.

Council President Bidar also informed us that Max Prestigiacomo will be starting his tenure as District 8 alder and that the Council Office will  work on providing some remote orientations and facilitate the completion of his paperwork.  The Mayor stated that she spoke with Max to welcome him and initiated a conversation with him about City committees.

If you have any questions about this meeting, please contact Council President Bidar.

Legal Action of Wisconsin released an FAQ to address Wisconsin’s 60 day eviction ban.  I have attached the document for your review.

From the Mayor’s Office

New look for website

The City of Madison’s main homepage is redesigned to focus on information about city services impacted by COVID-19. Office openings and closings, direct links to health and community resources, and the latest news and information from City agencies are placed front and center to help users connect with the information they need during the COVID-19 pandemic.

From Public Health:

The Wisconsin Department of Health Services (DHS) and Public Health Madison & Dane County are issuing a public health alert due to an increase in suspected opioid drug overdose activity in Dane County from March 29-April 4.

DHS identified 11 reports of suspected opioid drug overdoses seen at hospital emegency departments in Dane County. This is statistically higher than expected based on recent reports.

See the full alert:

https://www.publichealthmdc.com/documents/Opioid%20Alert%202020-04-07.pdf

COVID-19 Information Update 4/7/20

  • As of April 8 at 8:30am, there are 305 people who have tested positive for coronavirus in Dane County.
  • When you leave home, assume that you will come into contact with COVID-19. Stay home so you don’t increase your likelihood of getting sick, and you reduce the risk of getting others sick too. All community members should be monitoring themselves for symptoms (fever, cough, shortness of breath, sore throat) and isolating themselves from others as soon as they develop these symptoms. Our fact sheet PDF has more information.
  • You can still go outside if you’re alone or with your household members. Remember to practice social distancing if you see others. So go for a bike ride, walk your dog, and play in the yard–just do so safely!

4/8/20 AM COVID News Roundup

STATE/LOCAL

Kwasi K. Obeng, Chief of Staff

HOMELESS SERVICES UPDATES

COVID-19

1.       This week about 20-30 people moved into vulnerable hotel rooms. There is still a list of people waiting for rooms.

2.       Here is a link to information from the Legislative Reference Bureau on evictions:https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/misc/lrb/lrb_reports/evictions_health_emergency_4_1.pdf

3.       Harm Reduction Resources during COVID-19: https://harmreduction.org/blog/covid-19-resources-for-people-who-use-drugs-and-people-vulnerable-to-structural-violence/?fbclid=IwAR2Zyi354seyqlZQZJFze5QMTCdVVa_Hb6SwcJ0A7vA78rU06XNG_lJSo10

Unemployment Insurance Appeals

Good afternoon,

Short information videos, in English and Spanish, are available at this link on Legal Action’s website and on Legal Action of Wisconsin’s YouTube channel.

https://www.legalaction.org/additional-resources/unemployment-benefits

Thanks,

Heidi M. Wegleitner
Attorney at Law
she/her/hers
744 Williamson St., Ste. 200, Madison, WI  53703
(p) 608-256-3304 (e) hmw@legalaction.org
http://www.legalaction.org/

CITY COMMITTEES ALLOWED TO MEET IN APRIL AND MAY

april committee meetings

Meanwhile . . . Public Safety – yeah, not a priority?  (PSRC = Public Safety Review Committee)

CITY HOUSING HELP LINE

Email from Community Development Director Jim O’Keefe to Alders:

Hello all:

It is very likely that you will continue to receive inquiries from constituents and others about housing-related issues and needs.  To help you respond, I’m resending information about a housing helpline established to help field such inquiries in an orderly and efficient manner.  CDD staff checks it at least daily. I must warn you – we probably won’t be able to meet every need that comes our way.  But we will do our best with the resources at our disposal.

Thank you for your continued support.

Here’s the forwarded info:

To Alders:

Our team is aware that many of you are in the difficult position of fielding a large volume of questions, comments and concerns from your constituents without the information you need to respond effectively. In the interest of equipping you with the best information currently available to assist your constituents in a timely manner, we recommend that you refer them directly or forward their questions to the following resources:

Housing Questions

The City has set up a Housing Helpline to offer information and referrals for renters or homeowners with questions related to housing concerns brought about by the coronavirus situation. The Tenant Resource Center (257-0006) can assist individuals with questions about tenant-landlord rights and responsibilities and provide help for those needing help with eviction prevention or rent assistance.  Please be advised, however, that, as of this time, there is only very limited financial assistance available from Tenant Resource Center. We are hopeful that situation might change in the future with the emergence of various funding assistance packages.

For any other housing-related questions, please refer people to call 264-0549 or e-mail housinginfo@cityofmadison.com.  Community Development staff will cover those lines and respond as quickly as possible.  Again, at present, we have few resources available for direct assistance but will monitor federal funding streams.

Community Resources

If you receive inquiries about other community resources, we encourage you to refer people to or utilize one of the following methods set up to connect to the 211 system.  It is the most comprehensive, up-to-date, source for information about available resources:

      1. Text “COVID19” to 211-211 for information about county resources.
      2. Visit 211’s website at https://www.unitedwaydanecounty.org/get-help/2-1-1/ to find local resources.
      3. Call 211 to speak with a call specialist. Call volume is currently very high and may lead to longer wait times than normal.

ANY NEW MAYORAL ORDERS?

Since the Mayor snuck her emergency order in without any publicity, I filed this open records request yesterday:

Please send me a copy of any and all orders the mayor has issued since March 23rd when she issued the Emergency Order.  Also, please send me any correspondence, written or electronic, where they mayor fulfilled this responsibility “This proclamation of emergency shall be given prompt and general publicity”
 
Any questions, please do not hesitate to ask.
 
Brenda
Reply came today:

Hi Brenda, I hope you are well and staying safe. The Mayor has only issued one Emergency Order, which is attached, is that what you were looking for?  I have also attached the email that was sent from the Mayor to staff instructing that the Order be filed with the Clerk. I can ask for a search for more emails but that might take a bit of time.

Let me know if you are looking for something else and stay well.

Yours,

Mary Bottari

I inquired:

That’s fine.  I was just looking for where the public would find the orders.  The Governor has a website that lists all the orders. I was wondering if there is new order, how would the public know?  The last order wasn’t publicized.

Assistant City Attorney Marci Poulsen replied:

Any new Orders that affect any legislative action would need to be introduced by resolution to the Common Council.

Sigh.  I can’t say I’m satisfied with that answer.  The way the initial order went, we wouldn’t have known that the mayor declared an emergency on the 23rd for thigs she had done even before the 23rd until the agenda came out for the March 31st agenda and even then we won’t get a chance to weigh in on any issues until April 21st.  Doesn’t feel like an open, transparent, public-respecting process.

DANE COUNTY PARKS REMAIN OPEN

Dane County Board Supervisor Heidi Wegleitner writes:

Today a number of State Parks In the area were closed because of very high usage.  Dane County Parks remains open, but staff are monitoring.  See below message from Director Hicklin. Parks info available here.  https://www.danecountyparks.com/

And sends this info:

The Governor’s announcement that several state properties will close has prompted questions about Dane County Parks.  I’m sending this message to update the County Board and will send additional updates if anything changes.

Dane County Parks, under the direction of our incredibly talented and dedicated Parks Director, Darren Marsh, have been open continuously since COVID-19 emerged.  Our park properties provide important physical and mental health benefits to our residents.  We have continuously monitored and evaluated park usage and we feel that the vast majority of users are respecting public health orders.  We recognize that we may need to close at some point but we do not think that we’re there yet.  We have the advantage that facilities that would have been the most problematic, such as restrooms and campgrounds, were already closed from the winter season.  Additionally, the location and layout of most county parkland allows for social distancing and is very conducive for short visits focused on hiking.   We have not observed the groups of people clustering in parking lots that you may have seen posted by the state.   Finally, we took proactive steps to open gates, post signage and monitor our lands to help ensure that problems wouldn’t develop.

At the moment, the closure of some state properties is an opportunity to remind the public that we are monitoring how parkland is being used and our ability to keep county parkland open hinges on users following public health guidelines in addition to regular park rules (e.g. please do not litter).  We will pay particular attention in the upcoming days to whether the state closures place any additional pressures on our lands that negatively impacts our ability to stay open.

As of this email, our plan is to remain open and to remind all users that they should follow all public health guidelines and should spread out as much as possible.  We may close in the future upon further evaluation.

I hope that everyone is doing well and managing in these difficult circumstances.  Please let me know if there are any questions.  Again, we’ll be sure to send an update if the status changes.

Sincerely,

Laura Hicklin | Director
Dane County Land & Water Resources Department
5201 Fen Oak Drive #208, Madison, WI 53718
(608)224-3765 | Hicklin.laura@countyofdane.com

BLOOPER!

Most interesting City Press Release I’ve seen in quite some time . . .

And . . .

Me thinks someone needs some sleep!

MADISON HUES

Good Morning Everyone,

In our April 6th issue, hitting grocery stores and take-outs today, Dr. Sheryl Henderson talks about infectious diseases and COVID-19. Gloria Reyes gives an update in virtual learning and other MMSD issues. Fabiola Hamdan talks about the impact of COVID-19 on the immigrant community. Toya Robinson is the sole African American clerk of courts in Dane County. Eric Chef Raffy talks about the impact of COVID-19 on Savi Café & Catering. Asian Wisconzine and Global Connections give global accounts on the impact of COVID-19. And we feature the community murals of DAMA in our center spread. These are just some of the stories in Your Capital City Hues.

Stay Safe Out There!

Jonathan Gramling, Publisher & Editor, The Capital City Hues “The News for ALL of Madison”

P.S. Our classified ads are posted immediately on our website at www.capitalcityhues.com

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