No Expansion of Middle School Unless City Restores Funding

If the City fails to restore funding to the Houston Middle School expansion project, there will be no expansion of the middle school.

The City Administration gives two reasons for cutting the funding for the expansion of Houston Middle School, and postponing it for one year 1. The pandemic has led to uncertainty over City revenues, and 2. Now is not a good time for the City to issue bonds in the capital markets.

The 2021 budget proposal, which includes capital improvements projects (CIP) for the next five years, will have its third reading at the next BMA meeting. The plan includes 2.5 million dollars in the 2022 budget for Houston Middle School expansion, which is just 50% of the original commitment. 

Another item in the City's CIP for 2022 is 5.5 million dollars for the purchase and development of land for tournament  long fields south of Winchester off Forest Hill. That project, when completed, would add about $300,000 to the City's operating expenses.
  

While Alderman Rocky Janda regularly states that GMSD has plenty of reserves to to build the addition, GMSD representatives dispute that, because those reserves are committed to specific projects. As an example, a large amount of reserves are needed because state money is not available for the district for several months after school begins, and it is needed to pay bills from September through the end of the year.

Another hit in the GMSD budget this year is the $355,000 annual payment to Shelby County Schools. Previously, the City has covered this expense, but the City left this payment out of its budget this year, stating GMSD must cover this commitment for the remaining six years.

You may read additional details in this Daily Memphian article: 

School Construction Postponed

Listen to the Board of Mayor and Aldermen Work Session on July 23, to hear the entire discussion of the school budget. 

July 23 Work Session

In this excerpt, Alderman Sanders asks the GMSD representatives if there will be a school expansion at all if the City fails to contribute the full $5.0 million dollars promised. The answer is a resounding  "no".  Later, Patrick Lawton states that the funding could always be revisited in next year's budget if financial conditions warrant.

Beacon Center Lists Germantown Last in "Cost of Government" Index

The Beacon Center of Tennessee is a non-partisan, libertarian, non-profit that acts as a watchdog for government spending and individual freedoms. It ranks Germantown #30 out of 30 Cities in "Cost of Government", behind even Nashville, which rates #29 in that category, and Memphis at #28.

Besides "cost of government", three other categories were measured (Germantown ranks in parenthesis) --free enterprise (#20), private property (#14), and individual liberty (#16).

Overall Nashville, and Memphis and its suburbs are at the bottom of the rankings. Memphis ranks #25, and Germantown #26.

"Germantown did poor because it spends a lot on taxpayer funded lobbying money. Its debt is very high per person. It’s actually higher than Memphis believe it or not," said Shultis.  Link 


This poor rating comes out at an opportune time, as there is a small window of opportunity for citizens to express their feelings about the City budget. Instructions for commenting are at the bottom of this post.  

In this year's budget, tucked away in the capital expenditure budget for the Parks, is a mere $50,000 for due diligence and down payment on acreage south of Winchester for a sports complex. This complex is projected to need an annual subsidy of $200.000 to $300,000 per year. I understand that the City needs more athletic fields to meet the needs of the citizens, but the City should make the case for that need, and also give citizens a range of options that do not necessarily include tournament level fields. The City already supports other enterprises, such as GPAC, and GAC, the Great Hall, the Pickering Center, and The Hay Barn. All of these will need funds from general expenditures because of the pandemic. They also suffer during recessions.  The good news I guess is that at least our "cost of government" rating cannot go lower than dead last. Because of budget issues, the City has cut back and put off promised renovations and expansion of the middle school. Shouldn't those funds be prioritized above an athletic complex that will cost the City hundreds of thousands of dollars a year?

The time is NOW to express your opinion on these issues. There is an on-line meeting tomorrow on the budget, and the City is seeking public comment. From the City--The budget does not include a merit increase for general government employees. There are no plans for layoffs. Vacant positions will be left open.  

Perhaps this would be a good time to abandon the vacation buyback policy. Under that policy, employees can substantially increase their pay by foregoing vacation days. This has the added expense of inflating retirement pay, which is computed on the last three years of salary, and that includes vacation buybacks.

I wonder what a "general government employee" is. My feeling is that employees at the managerial level should not receive raises when the "general" employee does not.

However you feel, please be a good citizens and express your viewpoint. From the City:

Anyone wishing to speak for or against this request is invited to participate. Submittals, 500 words or less, emailed to BMAPH@Germantown-TN.gov prior to noon on August 10 will be delivered to all members of the Board of Mayor and Aldermen prior to the 6 p.m. meeting. Comments must include the name, address and phone number of the person submitting. 
Board of Mayor and Aldermen Meeting August 10

Vote by Mail Arguments heard by Tennessee Supreme Court

I saw nothing in our newspapers about the State's appeal of a lower court ruling that would force the State to allow vote-by-mail due to the pandemic. I therefore call your attention to The Nashville Tennessean, which covered the arguments made last week:  

Absentee Ballot Battle 

In short, the state shifted its argument to allow those with pre-existing conditions, or those who care for people with pre-existing conditions, to vote by mail this year. Previously, in lower courts, its arguments ignored the pandemic altogether, and no allowance was made for voting by mail due to the pandemic. The State, in its Supreme Court argument, did not specify any pre-existing conditions that would qualify, and it appears the honor system would be at play if the Court adopts the State's current argument. One would just sign that, under the threat of perjury, there is a pre-existing condition which prevents a safe in-person vote. 
 
The plaintiffs argue that limiting voting access goes against the rights of voters as guaranteed by the state and U.S. Constitution.Tennessee is one of the few states that requires a voter to have a specific reason to be able to vote absentee.

Currently, the list of reasons for voting absentee are on the application--and on the Shelby County Election Commission website. At this point, the language re: the pandemic reads as follows: 

• You are hospitalized, ill, or physically disabled and cannot vote in person and/or I have determined that it is impossible or unreasonable to vote in-person due to the COVID-19 situation.
• You are a caretaker of a person who is hospitalized, ill, or disabled, and/or I have determinted that it is impossible or unreasonable to vote in person due to the COVID-19 situation.

Presumably, if the Supreme Court accepts the State's current argument, there will be the requirement of having a pre-existing condition added to the above language.    

Blue and Black Ink 

Just a bit of a heads up if you are voting absentee-- I was a bit confused by the instructions sent with my absentee ballot. One piece of paper said to use a blue or black ink pen, not a pencil or red ink. The ballot itself said only black ink is allowed. To be on the safe side, I used the more restrictive instruction-black ink.

Sarah Freeman, Germantown Citizen, on Discrepanices at Shelby County Election Commission

Sarah Freeman, Germantown citizen and history professor at Arkansas State University, was a poll watcher in the 2018 election. As a result of some of her experiences during that process, she took a deeper dive into the numbers. She acquired the SCEC database showing the voting totals on the machines for each early voting location, and attempted to reconcile them to "poll pad" numbers. The poll pads tally the number of times that a person is looked up on the SCEC data base at each precinct. The poll pads are sealed and locked away securely each evening at each voting location, and unsealed the next day, presumably because these are important for election security.

She discovered that the "poll pad" number totals do not include those voters whose correct address does not match the address on the SCEC records. The voters without matching addresses vote on the machines but are not included on the poll pad tally. At many of the early voting locations she could find little or no attempt to reconcile the poll pad numbers to the machine vote numbers each day. Furthermore, there are wild variations in the number of voters that fall into the "wrong address" category at each voting location, and at each day in some of the early voting locations. 

When Ms. Freeman requested the report of the "auditors", she discovered that there is no "audit". An accounting firm is employed for each election, and, because they have the capability and the credentials to perform audits, they are routinely called "auditors". However, they are only charged with checking a few boxes for a certain number of tasks, and reconciling machine votes to anything is not among their charged tasks. The accounting report specifically states that it does not verify the integrity of the election.

Without further ado, here is Ms. Freeman's report, followed by the email she sent to several parties yesterday: 

Sarah Freeman Report

Politicians, the press, public servants, and citizen activists,

Please read the attached letter which examines some very troubling documents and data collected from the Nov. 2018 Shelby County election. There were many red flags in that election, and I hope this letter will open up conversations about what can and should be changed in the current election process. Unless and until the process is improved with much better security, a real audit, and (I hope) a shift away from voting machines to a verifiable voter hand-marked ballot system, the integrity of our elections will continue to be undermined.

Let me know if you have any questions and/or would like to see the documents mentioned in the letter. 

Thank you.

Prof. Sarah Wilkerson Freeman

Germantown, TN 38138

*************

Here are a few of my past blog posts about elections and the Shelby County Election Commission, as well as a couple from other sources (please note  that the SCEC has billed the City $19,000 for the Barzizza election appeal. I did not write a post about this because it was adequately covered in traditional news sources):  

The aberrant paper ballots, Some Statistics, Barzizza Files Complaint against Election Commission 

Election Commission to Hold Special Meeting Wednesday on Voting System

Ex-Alderman Frank Uhlhorn Appointed as Shelby County Election Commissioner

The Culture of Kindness and the Germantown Values PAC

Here are a few articles from other sources:

Election Commission Bills Germantown $19,000 for Barzizza Lawsuit

How Pay to Play Ballots Landed in Voters' Hands

Alderman Scott Sanders--An Interview

This past Thursday I conducted a phone interview with Alderman Scott Sanders. We discussed several topics, including his vision for the future of the City; school funding and capital expenditure issues post COVID 19; and the final vote on the cell tower at Dogwood School. I used my notes to create a Q and A format. I also note that, for the sake of brevity, I have summarized his answers.

Germantown 2030 Plan, Dense Development, Citizen Commissions, and the Future of the City

Shining a Light: Do you believe that the citizens of Germantown support the Germantown Forward 2030 plan? I ask that because three of us conducted a poll of Germantown NextDoor neighborhoods, and over seventy percent of nearly 1000 respondents want no new apartments in the City. Only seven percent want the full build-out of apartments referenced in a study by City staff members-- that study notes a possibility of adding over 2000 new apartment units. The balance of the respondents on our survey want to keep more or less the same ratio of apartments to single-family homes that the City now has. There seems to be a disconnect between the results of our poll and the “citizen led” Forward 2030 plan.

Alderman Sanders: I stated in my campaign that we need to revisit the 2030 plan. It is not representative of the way citizens feel. In my opinion, the City Administrator and Mayor appoint to the commissions and long range planning committees only those who have the same pro-development mindset that they have. Most citizens do not share that same viewpoint. Also, I've seen many of the candidates that lose elections receive consolation prizes-- appointments to important commissions or committees.  Brian White, who is now on the design review commission, Dave Klevan, who was appointed to the Industrial Development Board, and Greg Marcom, who was a member of the Germantown 2030 Forward planning committee are some examples of that. All of these commissions guide how the city moves forward. The City purports that these commissions represent the views of the greater community, but they actually do not. City departments were highly involved in the Forward 2030 plan, and the members were largely administration supporters. The process was fashioned in a way that insured that the result would be consistent with the administration’s viewpoint. 

Shining a Light: Why are people attracted to Germantown as a place to live? 

Alderman Sanders: Traditionally, people have been attracted to the City because of the tight knit neighborhoods, mature trees, strict zoning restrictions on signs and building height, aesthetics, and the peace and quiet away from the hustle and bustle of Memphis. One hundred percent the two most important factors are great schools and public safety. 

Having said that, although Germantown has always been the premier city in West Tennessee, we are losing our edge, and we may be losing our desirability because of the way we have changed. There is a lot of jockeying going on between Germantown and Collierville now. Their new state-of-the-art high school is attracting a number of families who see concrete evidence of that City’s support of the new school system. Also there is now a commitment there to limit dense development. The aldermen that I have talked to from Collierville regret the number of apartment units that they have approved in the past, and they pledge not to approve any more other than those in the pipeline. In Collierville, the aldermen are all respected by the administration. There is not any infighting. The board there holds regular work sessions, open to the public. Heck I just saw an article in the Daily Memphian and saw even with their hiring of their new police chief that they held open interviews of the candidates where the public and press could attend. Here there seems to be a great lack of trust in the government by our residents, and I feel it is because the administration does not seem to value the opinions of all the aldermen and the residents can see that. Instead of listening, our viewpoints are suppressed.  

School Funding Issues

Shining a Light: I want to talk a little bit about the school system since you brought that up. At a recent School Board meeting, it was announced that the annual $355,000 payment pledged to Shelby County Schools would no longer be paid by the City because of budget concerns arising as a result of the novel coronavirus pandemic. In the future it will be paid by the school system. This is at a time when GMSD is facing its own funding problems. How did this decision come about? 

Alderman Sanders: I have no idea. I was not consulted in any way about that. The aldermen vote on the budget, and that payment was always included. The first time I heard about it was when I listened to the school board meeting. I'd like to see the original settlement agreement to see who the parties were, was it the City of Germantown or the Germantown Board of Education? Perhaps it was their responsibility all along and the City chose to handle the payments for them in the early years due to lack of funding and starting a new district. I don't know at this point. This is not the only time we have not been consulted on something regarding GMSD. As you likely recall, the administration required GMSD to pay $232,000 extra for a utility sized pipe for a potential water tower when the new elementary school was built. All utility fund expenditures must be approved by the BMA, but the administration totally skipped that step. We never even heard about a water tower until after GMSD incurred the expense, and sought to be reimbursed. Because the water tower location has since been moved, the extra $232,000 spent for the pipe was wasted. The City had to reimburse GMSD for the funds by retroactively approving the expenditure. Yet there is no state statute allowing for a retroactive approval from the utility fund since GMSD has no authority to spend funds from that account. The end result of this mismanagement was $232,000 of taxpayer money down the drain. 

As for the payment to SCS, I prefer that the GMSD spend its budget on educating the students rather than making payments to Shelby County. I have always been supportive of everything the school system needs, whether it is money for increased security or for renovations at the middle school. I also heard for the first time that the City has taken the middle school addition off the capital improvements budget for next year. The capital improvements portion of the budget approved issuing a bond in the amount of $5 million this year and has already passed the BMA. The City Administrator apparently contacted Superintendent Manuel and said that was off the table now due to budget concerns. I am not sure the City has the authority to make this decision without a BMA vote. And I was neither consulted nor informed about the decision. We should have had a work session about all this to hear from the City the reasoning for their decision. The board may have agreed to delay or postpone this capital project due to the potential for lost revenues from the pandemic, I don't know. 

All of these things are typical. Often I am the last to find out about things, as I am not kept in the loop at all. I often read about something in the newspaper, and then see another alderman quoted. I wonder of course, about the lack of communication between the administration and at least some of the aldermen.  

The City Budget

Shining a Light: As a result of COVID 19, the City's sales tax revenue has been severely reduced, and GAC and GPAC are receiving no revenues at all. The City obviously must make some budget cuts somewhere. The Planning Commission gave the administration a pass on presenting a budget for next year.  How do you feel about all this? 

Alderman Sanders: Memphis is submitting a budget on time, and the County is submitting a budget on time. These budgets are much more complex than ours, so why can't we approve a budget for the coming year? I have written an email to Patrick Lawton saying, among other things, that there should not be an open ended time extension on submitting a budget. When will we see it? I also asked him some additional questions about possible cuts to the budget.

Shining a Light: Do you mind sending me a copy of that email?

Alderman Sanders: I would be happy to send you a copy. [The copy is included at the end of the interview.] 

Capital Expenditures- Road Projects

Shining a Light: Since you brought up the issue of the school renovation, let’s talk a bit about some of the other capital expenditures that have been planned. I noticed on the agenda sheet for the meeting Monday that some previously approved capital expenditures for various road projects are being cut. Do you have any feelings about those?

[Alderman Sanders expressed regret about losing the 80% of state funding on the Wolf River/Germantown Road intersection project, but he was unsure as to whether or not the project had been dropped by the state. After the interview Alderman Sanders let me know that he got a response from the city administrator about this project. Alderman Sanders was told that the bids came in over the state budget. The budget was $4 million and bids came in at $8 million so the state agrees that the bids on the agenda for Monday should be rejected. At this point Germantown is not sure how the state will proceed.]

Shining a Light: How much have we spent on that project to date? 

Alderman Sanders: There are so many different parts to it that I can’t even estimate. I would probably have to submit an open records request to find out.  

Capital Expenditures, Water Tower, Sports Complex, School Expansion

Shining a Light: What about other capital expenditures planned for next year? Besides the school expansion, there are plans to buy a property south of Winchester for a sports complex, and of course there is the water tower. Do you know anything about those? 

Alderman Sanders: No, I don’t. They do not keep me informed. I expect the administration will try to go forward with those at some point. 

Shining a Light: Citizens may push back if the City goes forward with the sports complex while at the same time  postponing the expansion of the middle school. The sports complex would be the third major enterprise the City supports, the other two being GPAC and GAC. That may be a bit unusual for a City our size. And we can all see now that City-supported enterprises, while they can provide great benefit for the citizens, may also present financial risk for the taxpayers during an economic downturn. I also have never seen a real cost/benefit analysis for the sports complex, which I believe is essential before undertaking a project like this.

Alderman Sanders: Well, I think the sports complex is a priority for the administration, so I expect it to come up at some point. Let me tell you a story to demonstrate the way things are done. I have had to start a spreadsheet on projects that we pass so that I can keep up with them. We vote on something and then we don’t know what happens. I happen to live near Cameron Brown Park, and one day recently I saw a number of cars parked on Farmington. I remembered that the BMA passed a measure to add sixty parking spaces at the park for the events that are held there, specifically so there would not be overflow parking on Farmington. The next time I saw Pam Beasley (Parks Director) I asked her what happened to the parking places the BMA voted for. She said that she placed the project on hold after talking to the city administrator because she may need that money for the sports complex if the land comes in over budget. That is not right. That should be a BMA decision. We had already voted on the funds for the parking places. Those funds are committed That leads me to believe they are determined to purchase the land for a sports complex. We’ll see. 

GPAC Cost Overruns

Shining a Light: What is your take on all the GPAC cost overruns?  I remember listening to a person speak at a BMA meeting in “Citizens to be Heard”. He said he was a supporter of GPAC who donated his time as an usher. He supported public funding for the arts, but he was concerned about the cost overruns. He concluded with this: “GPAC is not DaVinci and Germantown is not the Medicis.”

Alderman Sanders: Yes, Holy cow! The City leaders had to talk State Senator Brian Kelsey into extracting $2.5 million dollars grant money from the state to take care of some of the cost overruns. I kept voting for more funds for the overruns since the state provided the additional funding, and then finally for the last $900,000 requested, I had enough and voted against approval of the additional expenditure.  That vote against the final funding was mostly because some of the work had already begun before the proper approvals had been sought from the BMA. 

Cell Tower at Dogwood

Shining a Light: The vote for the final approval of the cell tower is scheduled for a vote on Monday.  Some citizens feel there should be a public meeting so their feelings can be heard. How do you feel about this? 

Alderman Sanders: I hate that it is on the agenda during this time when we are meeting on-line, and city hall is closed. However, this has been going on for 18 months, and after the last hearing (design review) it's been known that the issue would be presented to the BMA in April (tentative date) even before the virus. Everyone has been expressing their viewpoints by email and telephone calls. I've already received hundreds of pages of information over the last 9 months to a year, and read every single page of what has been sent. I continue to conduct my own research, and have answered every citizen email (except those received in the last 48 hours) and will do so up until Monday afternoon.   

You know I campaigned on improving our poor cell service, and no matter how I vote I am going to make a large number of citizens unhappy, yes or no. I'm just going to have to do what I figure is best for the overall population, our businesses, and visitors to the city. I will get criticism on social media either way, but I think the majority of citizens realize I evaluate each agenda item independently and vote my conscience.

Shining a Light: Thank you for your time. Don’t forget to send me your email to Mr. Lawton. 

Alderman Sanders: No.problem. I will do that.  

The email that Alderman Sanders referenced in the text is below. To date, he has received no response.

Shelby County Election Commission to Vote Wednesday on Contract for New System

The above notice was put on the SCEC Facebook page. Unfortunately the email address in their graphic left out the "c" in county, so please try this address: 

 carol.collinsworth@shelbycountytn.gov 

This is a wonderful opportunity to have your comments read into the record without having to physically attend the meeting or speak at a podium. Please do it!

Election Commission to Hold Special Meeting Wednesday on Voting Machines

I refer you to my past posts on the beleaguered Shelby County Election Commission. As previously discussed, our current voting system is outdated, and has no paper trail. Thus it cannot be adequately audited. It must be replaced, hopefully in time for the election next fall.

Ex-Alderman Frank Uhlhorn Appointed as Shelby County Election Commissioner

Shelby County May Get New Voting System in November After All 

I am no expert in voting systems, but when I researched the subject, I was unable to find a single election security expert that favors the type of electronic system that Linda Phillips, administrator of our elections, is promoting. She vehemently favors an electronic system that spits out a receipt for each voter. That receipt would be retained and could later be matched to electronic votes in a recount. Unfortunately, the system can still be hacked, because of the ability to insert a rogue program with a flash drive. Additionally, studies have shown that voters do not check their receipts to verify their accuracy. It is also more expensive and can easily become outdated.

The less expensive alternative is a paper ballot that is scanned at each precinct. The software is much simpler, not subject to hacking, and it is less costly. It has been used successfully for years in Chattanooga, and recently Knoxville chose to implement this system. Because the SCEC did not include that type of less expensive software in the original bidding process, the Shelby County Commission did not approve the SCEC's original monetary request for the more expensive system. The bidding process was sent back to the SCEC for another round of bidding that included the less expensive paper marked system.

Besides being less expensive, and less prone to hacking, the paper system does not require touching a screen, which of course can spread pathogens. 

The bids are in, but, according to sources, the public is not allowed to see them prior to the vote on Wednesday. Joe Weinberg calls the new bidding process "deeply flawed".  In an email sent to all the Shelby County Election Commissioners, Weinberg calls for a consultant to be hired to review the entire process, and reorganize it. According to him, security issues are ignored, as is the solvency and track record of the companies bidding. Another issue is that there was no request for bids for a system that could print out paper ballots at each precinct as needed, a capability that would more easily allow the administration of a scanned paper ballot system. Additionally, the RFP (Request for Proposal) disallowed the bidders from including items other than those specifically listed in the RFP, so bidders were not even allowed to suggest such a system.

Again, I urge everyone to use this easy process to make your opinions known.

Germantown and COVID 19

COVID 19 is now the talk of the world, but hopefully soon it will be just a bad memory. Hold onto that thought while I muse on the effects on our City. First of all, looking at a map of diagnosed cases in the county, the hot spots for the virus center on East Memphis and Germantown. Whether that is because we travel more than people in other parts of the County, or merely have greater access to testing, is yet to be determined. But in any case, take care out there.

The newspapers have done a great job with local stories, which I link below-- what do you want to hear first, the good, the bad, or the ugly?

Since Kroger is such a big chain here, I will start with the wild-cat strike at the Kroger distribution center. The company generally has a difficult time keeping things stocked, and this surely won't help. This is also a reminder that our gratitude needs to go out to all the workers that keep our City functioning, albeit at a lower level than normal  I pray for a full recovery of the person with COVID 19, and wish our Kroger employees the best. All the while I am crossing my fingers that this will not disrupt the already fragile food delivery systems.  

Memphis Teamsters Wildcat Strike at Kroger’s Crucial Southern Warehouse 

There are also a couple of feel-good stories coming from our area. I have to hand it to the Java Cafe owner who ordered N95 masks for his employees before most people even heard of coronavirus. If only he had a high position in the federal government! For those who say he should turn them over to hospitals, well, I disagree. Having food prepared by people wearing N95 masks serves a public health purpose. His stash would not make a dent in even an hours' worth of need for masks at hospitals, and in the meantime lots of people can order food that is unlikely to be contaminated.

Germantown Cafe takes extra measures to protect employees, customers 

On to a story about a couple of Dogwood teachers who are  neighbors in Poplar Estates, written by Geoff Calkins, the award winning sports reporter at the Daily Memphian.  Somehow I knew he would come up with some great coronavirus public interest stories. Who else could find the deeper meaning in the jokes fashioned out of construction paper and put in the window panes? I may search out these homes.

In a time of pandemic, Can Construction Paper Save us All?  

Abigail Warren reports that all City-employed part-time workers have been fired. Ms. Warren says she hates stories like this, and I certainly understand that. The employees were notified by letter this past week. Mayor Palazzolo could not be reached for comment. If I could interview Mayor Palazzolo, I would inquire whether senior employees were going to give up their vacation buybacks, which allows them to take not only two weeks of actual vacation time, but up to two weeks of extra pay, depending on years of service. All those perks would probably save the City a lot more money than taking the jobs away from the people who need them the most. 

Germantown Lays Off Part-Time Employees

I am sure I missed a lot of other interesting local coronavirus stories. Please mention any other ones in the comments. I would like to see how more stories on the availability of hospital supplies here. The national stories are horrifiying. Without mentioning names or particular hospitals, I know of an ICU nurse here who has chronic asthma who was given a coronavirus patient and no mask. Now N95 masks at the hospital are being reused with regular filters on top. The N95 masks underneath are not changed for several days. That seems unhealthy both for the nurses and the patients they serve. This is anecdotal but I would welcome a real news story on it. 

The Future

 

Our City has decisions to make, and it looks like laying off part-time employees was the first one. How will this affect us economically? Obviously this depends on the length of the quarantine, and the subsequent behavior of the citizens. Right now this is costing us sales-tax dollars, and probable loss of value of the employee pension fund. The City was already in the midst of making up a shortfall in pension funds, and this epidemic is quite unhelpful. In Memphis, Mayor Strickland has said to expect a cutback in services. Where will Germantown cut? Will we still plan to buy athletic fields for regional tournaments? I have always thought that was an unneeded boondoggle, meant to prop up development interests in the City. What about our multi-year plan to address drainage issues?  Will the water tower go forward? Will GPAC need yet more subsidies?

More importantly, how will this affect major developments being planned around town? I have already warned of the overbuilding of hotels in the area. I doubt they will have much business for the foreseeable future. Will this affect bank lending for various projects? Will the new "work at home" initiatives become a permanent fixture, limiting the need for new office construction? Will on-line ordering trends become so great that retail space is not needed?

And, it could even be a blow to the heart of "live, work and play".  Dense development is an admitted cause of the rapid spread of the coronavirus in New York City. Germantown has "health" as one of the top goals in its 2030 plan. Right now a home with a backyard seems a lot healthier than an apartment with common spaces.

According to New York Governor Cuomo, quoted in Politico: 

"We have one of the most dense, close environments in the country," he said Wednesday. "And that's why the virus communicated the way it did. Our closeness makes us vulnerable."

Fresh air and sunshine are good for those with influenza viruses. Even here in Shelby County there are threats of closing the parks. Single family housing seems like the best idea for healthy living in the future.

Stay well!