HomeMy WebLinkAbout2020-11-12 TranscriptionPage 1
Emergency Joint Entities Meeting
City of Iowa City, November 12, 2020
Zoom Meeting Platform
Present Johnson County Board of Supervisors - Iowa City Community School District - City of
Iowa City - City of Coralvilie - City of North Liberty - Other Johnson County Municipalities and
School Districts
Others. Senator Joe Bolkcom, Representative Dave Jacoby, Representative Mary Mascher, Dave
Wilson - Director Johnson County emergency Management, Rod Lehnertz, Univesity of Iowa - VP
of Finance & Operations.
Expert Speakers related to COVID-19: Dr. Jorge Salinas, University of Iowa Hospitals & Clinics -
Clinical Assistant Professor of Internal Medicine - Infectious Diseases; Dr. Stephen Scheckel, Mercy
Hospital IC - VP Medical Affairs; Sam Jarvis, Johnson County Public Health -Community Health
Division Manager.
COVID-19
Teague: As we all know, COVID-19 in our area and ... and within our state, the numbers are increasing,
and so, uh, before we get into some of the, uh, particulars of the agenda, I did want to just kind
of go through and, uh, make some recognitions. Um, a part of this, um, we can certainly do
later. But I thought if we could maybe just, uh, have, uh, some representation from each entity.
If you can either wave your hand, um, so that people can acknowledge, uh, your presence. So
Johnson County Board of Supervisors. University of Iowa. The City of Coralville. City of
Hills. City of Iowa City. One ... one thing I do have, uh, questions about, um, I think we might
type our names for attendance, um, in the chat. But for now I just wanna recognize everybody.
Um, so if you can wave. City of Lone Tree. City of North Liberty. City of Oxford. City of
Shueyville. City of Solon. City of Swisher. City of Tiffin. City of University Heights. And
then we have our School Boards, Clear Creek ... and Iowa City. Welcome to all of you today. I
do know that we have other individuals that are here, uh, with us today. Some have been
invited to be a part of this agenda, uh, and which I'll call them, um, as we go through the
agenda, and then some of our legislative delegates have also been invited, and well have a
place and a time for, uh, remarks by them and we'll also acknowledge any of them that are
present, um, whether they give remarks and not. So thanks again for, um, bein' a part of today.
Uh, because the hour is very important and I wanna ensure that everybody has a chance to, uh,
share today, because this is a topic that is near and dear to all of us, especially when we are
trying to do all ... all we can within our cities and, um, whatever municipality that you're
operating under. And so we're gonna start with our item number three and it's expert speakers
related to COVID-19. Um, I believe that Dr. Salinas from the University of Iowa Hospitals and
Clinic is present, and we're gonna invite you at this time, and following, uh, him will be Dr.
Steve from the Mercy of lo ... for Mercy of Iowa City, Chief Medical Officer.
Expert speakers related to COVID-19
Salinas: Hello. Can you hear me okay?
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Entities meeting of November 12, 2020.
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Teague: Yes, we can.
Salinas: Excellent. Thank you. I know that many, uh, leaders are present here, including public health
experts, so I won't, um, spend a whole lot of time, uh, emphasizing, uh, how severe the situation
is. We're seeing exponential growth in the number of cases in the entire region, including Iowa,
including Johnson County. Uh, that has put, uh, tremendous pressure in our healthcare system
in the entire, again, region, uh, including the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics. Uh, we
are actively modifying our protocols to, um, try to predict what the, uh, future needs, uh, will be
in coming days and weeks. And, uh, they are very clear recommendations and actions that all
Iowans can take to ensure that the incidence stops going up and starts going down. And those
are probably everybody present here knows them: wearing masks. I congratulate our City for
our, uh, mask mandate. Urn ... uh, that's very important. I think that all cines in Iowa should
have a mask mandate. Um, there are also other recommendations that the Coronavirus Task
Force has ... has given us, including limiting the number or the occupancy in restaurants, for
example, to 50%; limiting, uh, gatherings to your household... to members of your household
only; um ... uh, and limiting hours of certain businesses. In general, we should try to decrease
socialization. A common rule is to not socialize in groups larger than 10, and you could
translate that into your, uh, your household, uh, and obviously that translates into, you know,
how would we go to restaurants, bars, etc. Again, the ... the public health recommendations are
exceedingly clear, uh, to the point that even the Coronavirus Task Force, the White House
Coronavirus Task Force, is very explicit in them. So I would recommend,um, all entities in our
region to follow those recommendations. Thank you. You're muted.
Teague: I have to get used to another Zoom meeting, right? (laughs) Um, and thank you for those
words. Dr. Steve from Mercy of Iowa City, who is the Chief Medical Officer. I don't see
him ... on right now. All right, we'll ... we may swing back around to him (both talking)
Fruehling: Mayor?
Teague: Yes?
Fruehling: Is his last name Scheckel?
Teague: Yes!
Fruehling: Okay. Let me promote him. He came in as a registrant.
Teague: Great, thank you. And normally this doesn't take a long time. So we will allow him a little
time. All right. And, Dr. Steve, let us know when you can hear us. I see you've been promoted
over to the live stream. I think what we'll do is, while we're, um, getting him all situated. I
did ... I did see Sam Jarvis from the Johnson County Public Health Department, uh, who is a
Community Health Manager there. I don't know if I've seen, uh, the Director Dave Koch yet,
but maybe we'll go ahead and have (several talking, garbled)
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Scheckel: (mumbled)
Teague: ... at this time. Oh, there is (garbled)
Scheckel: Hello!
Teague: Hello.
Scheckel: Can ... can you hear me now?
Teague: Yes, we can hear you.
Scheckel: Fantastic. Sorry for the delay. Um, is it a good time right now?
Teague: Yes, we're gonna go ahead and have you, uh, chime right on in. Thanks for joinin' us.
Stephen Scheckel: Okay, sorry, uh, my volume isn't great here, but I'll go ahead. Thanks for the
opportunity to join you. Um, just, uh, adding to what Dr. Salinas was ... was saying. Um, we
really are in a challenging time right now with the COVID surge. Um, I think all of us are
aware of that, and unfortunately Iowa is actually, uh, near the top of the list as far as positivity
rates go. We're up around 50% in the latest report that I received, and what that means to us is
that all of us have a big challenge, uh, to, uh, do our best to prevent the spread of this disease.
As everyone knows, it's highly contagious, um ... uh, and we're definitely heading in the wrong
direction, and, uh, this affects not only all of our friends, family, and community members, but
it also affects our ability to take care of patients in the hospital. And as you might imagine, um,
not only are our community individuals at risk, but our care providers are at risk, and I think all
of the hospitals are experiencing a number of their healthcare providers actually becoming ill,
and that often happens. Doesn't really happen in the hospital, but what happens is, uh, family
members and community members that they interact when they're not at the hospital, uh, might
have this, uh... uh, disease and because they're minimally symptomatic, or maybe asymptomatic,
they can transmit it to these other individuals. They become sick, and if they're not aware of
having the disease, they might spread it to some of their co-workers. So right now, uh, the
whole region is in a bit of a ... a ... a crisis, if you wanna call it that, um, and the University is
actually been leading the way in trying to open up bed space, but the Eastern Iowa hospitals are
pretty much at their maximum capacity. And when that happens, then we all, uh, risk the
possibility of not having the healthcare services available that we all need. Um, in the latest
survey that we did, we did a large group meeting of the regional hospitals, uh, including 17
hospitals, and out of those 17 hospitals, only two hospitals had ICU bed capacity. And so if you
think about that, the sickest patients are gonna need ICU, uh... uh, services, yet of those 17
hospitals, we only can send those patients to two hospitals, and it won't take long for those to
fill up. So we all have to do our best to, number one, what we're doing is getting together to try
to share the resources that we do have, um, and the other thing that we need to do is similar to
what Dr. Salinas said, we need to do ... be responsible in trying to prevent the transmission of
this ... this very contagious disease to each other, and my feeling is that anything we can do to
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limit exposure, wear masks all the time. It's so important. Wash hands. Um, I ... I feel that we
should not have bars open so people can get close together and potentially spread the disease.
Um, I think more measures such as they have been introduced in some of these communities,
including Iowa City, uh, about mandatory mask wearing is essential, I think, for the sake of all
of us, our communities and our ability to continue to care for these very... sometimes very sick
patients. We have to step up and do what it takes to try to turn this curve down the other way,
and so, um, I appreciate this kind of meeting to get ... to make awareness for this. We're heading
into a very dangerous period with Thanksgiving, where people very justifiably want to get
together. They're tired of this sort of, uh, separateness and, uh, isolation, but it's time for us to
take that extra step, do what we have to do to ... to bring down the spread of this virus. Um, in
the long run it's the only way we're gonna get stores and businesses back open and really make
our community safe. So, I appreciate the opportunity to, uh, contribute to this very important
conference that you put together.
Teague: Thank you again for joining us, I really appreciate your words. If there is anyone that is not a
panelist, uh, that is a part of a entity, please raise your hand and we'll have someone allow you
to be entered as a panelist. So again, if there's anyone that is not a panelist, um, and, uh, just
raise your hand and we'll have you enter as a panelist. Well thanks again, uh, Dr. Steve. I'm
going to go ahead and we'll move on to Johnson County Public Health, Sam Jarvis is the
Community Health Manager there and we ... we warm hear a little bit about public safety
measures, as well as you all are definitely, um, inundated with public health.... situations related
to COVID-19. You and I, of course, have had extensive conversations even about mental health
related to COVID-19. So at this time, please welcome Sam Jarvis.
Jarvis: Hey, good afternoon everyone. Can everyone hear me all right? Wonderful. Well, thank you
for having us, uh, really appreciate the opportunity to provide, uh, what's going on, and you
heard from our hospital partners, uh, the pretty severe and serious situation we're in.
Unfortunately we're, uh, not here to be able to deliver the best of news, uh, you know, at this
point in time. We hope to someday. We hope to be able to ... to greet all of you again and let you
know when the pandemic is over, but that is not today. Um, and certainly, uh, everyone is
looking at the State's dashboard and looking at those numbers, but to put that in perspective, we
are pretty close to 8,000 cases and more than likely we will hit that mark, ub, sometime this
weekend. To put that in perspective, uh, we've seen roughly 1,000 of those cases since the
beginning of November. So we are, uh, rapidly increasing, you know, positive cases by the day,
uh, and seeing those triple digits. Our friends in Linn County are certainly seeing as well too
and I'm sure others are looking at that as close of a ... a partner they are in the corridor. Uh, so
we're not where we want to be as a community, uh, with cases. I think that's been made pretty
clear and we certainly look at, uh, the impact it's having on our healthcare partners and the
concerns that we're having. So, uh, I won't belabor that, but we do have to stress how severe
this is and how important it is right now because with our case investigations, every day that's
triple digits, uh, causes us to lag behind just a bit more, uh, and it's becoming increasingly
difficult, uh, to make contact with persons. Certainly with, uh, the election it made it more
difficult because persons were not picking up their call. They were screening their phone
because we all know that we were getting calls and texts constantly. So that really inhibits our
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process. So there's one thing that we could really plea to our community today is please return
calls, please make contact with us. We're trying to reach you as quickly as possible, and when
we have delays on that, that certainly delays the information that we need to establish your
infectious period and be able to make contact, uh, with your close contacts, and that's really one
of the, uh, main ways that we can stop transmission. If we can identify close contacts and get
them in quarantine, um, that's how we break the chain of transmission. So that is, uh, one of the
most important things that we could stressed today. Um, in terms of other recommendations,
you know, certainly everything that we've heard today, um, and then some, you know, we would
fully support seeing schools move virtually. We know that that is tough. We know that that
causes significant barriers to a lot families and... and certainly, uh, is a hardship. Uh, but right
now, uh, we're definitely seeing concerns in extracurriculars, uh, and after-school activities.
Uh, other things, you know, certainly looking at the winter sports season, uh, consider
postponing until further notice. We are seeing those gatherings, gatherings like that, family
gatherings, uh, spreading transmission, and so, um, you know, there's always ... we wish to have
better news, uh, to ... to provide, but we are not where we wanna be as a community right now
and, uh, you know, we need to reiterate the things that we have been doing and doing well. Uh,
we have a mask mandate here in Johnson County and Iowa City, and other municipalities, and
we see that. We see that when we're outside and we see people walking on the street with
masks on, we ... we appreciate that. We've got to carry on that behavior when it's with our family
members and friends who are not in our household. We tend to let our guard down and those
are also opportunities where we're seeing transmission. So it's, you know, just as important, if
not more important, to be able to do that. You know, certainly we don't want to provide or...or
send the message that it's, uh, you know, that we need to be afraid, uh, like we were in March
and April, but we need to take just as much caution, like ... that we did then, uh, we do now.
Because right now it matters the most, because you've heard it from our hospital partners, there
are grave concerns about capacity and (mumbled) a community, uh, all of us together in our
individual groups and families, we are able to curb transmission, but we've gotta not let fatigue
take part. So, as always, happy to answer any questions.
Teague: Thank you, Jarvis. Would ... does anyone have any questions for him? I'm sure there's
thousands of questions, uh, for you. And for any of the other speakers at this ... at this time.
Bolkcom: So this... this is Senator Bolkcom. I have a question about our capacity of 15 of 17 eastern
Iowa Hospitals are out of ICU beds (mumbled) kind of dancing around with ... with, uh, how
dire, I mean it is dire. But there's a suggestion, at least today, the Governor says we have plenty
of ICU beds. We have plenty of ventilators. Are we going to, uh, be swamped in a ... in another
five days? I mean, are we going to be overcapacity, and basically not have ... is that 14 days
from now? Is that ... because I know we just keep repeating the same message. It's not
working... what we're doing is not working and the changes she suggested are not working. So
at what point will we exceed, the patients, succeed our capacity in ICU and, uh, overrun our
hospitals? I mean is (mumbled) is anybody calculating that?
Salinas: I'll start. Um, and this is not an exact science. Unfortunately I don't have all the ... all the data
for every hospital, and, uh, but the epidemic is a bit, uh (mumbled) Some hospitals will start
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reaching capacity sooner than others. But it's clear, for example, I can give you some
anecdotes. Uh, our hospital receives calls from hundreds of miles away, uh, in other states, uh,
trying to transfer their patients to us because they don't have hospitals in their vicinity that can
take care of their patients. So the entire Midwest is experiencing these shortages. Um, another,
uh, piece of information that can help you in your calculations is that the number of
hospitalizations we're seeing today are the reflection of the number of new diagnosis we had,
uh, 10 to 14 days ago, when they were half of the number of new infections we're having now.
So you should expect the number of hospitalizations to continue growing in the coming days
and weeks. Even if we were able to effectively stop all transmission going forward, starting
today, the number of hospitalizations will still continue going up for the next two weeks. So
hospitals are already, uh, having to suspend elective procedures. Uh, some small hospitals don't
have ICUs. This patient will only get worse. So bottom line, to me, is that the answer is yes,
the system will be, uh, overwhelmed.
Scheckel: Uh, one thing I might add, if you can, uh, hear me is that, uh, the ... many of these hospitals
and I know the University of Iowa is, Mercy Iowa City is, and many other hospitals are
expanding their capacity for ICU beds. And we're doing that by moving people around, and as
Dr. Salinas mentioned, we are, uh, suspending elective procedures that are anticipating a
requirement for an overnight stay in the hospital for patients. Uh, what we're doing is
rescheduling those because what we want to do is move the available staff to areas that need the
most help, and right now that are our ICUs. Uh, it's ... it's essential that we're able to take care of
these patients, they're the sickest patients, um, and the availability of ventilators is very
important, but the key issue really is staffing, and that's why we have to maintain the health of
our own staff, and they have to be particularly vigilant about, uh, potential transmission and all
of those safety measures, and all of the community has to do that in order to support the hospital
staff, uh, and so to answer that question, our plan is to not have the sort of, uh, circumstance
where we have to set up tents, uh, for these COV ID patients. Some of the ... like in New York
City they had to do that and actually in Wisconsin areas are having to do that. We're doing our
best to adapt to these increasing numbers that are ... are really skyrocketing, and I think by all of
the hospitals working together to communicate, which we're doing on a regular basis, and
asking the community to help us by doing all of the preventive, um ... um, sort of activities that
are going to help decrease the transmission of this virus, but we are kind of at a critical, uh,
phase. Uh, we're holding our own, but we need the community to help us.
Public Safety Measures Currently /n Place/Entity Updates
Dodds: This is Jill Dodds from Coralville City Council. Um, the Governor every day has a press
conference and says that there is no mask mandate. So that's sending a mixed message. What
can we do in Johnson County to strengthen that ... that message, that that is the expectation here?
Scheckel: Um, and I'll ... I'll jump in there first. I think what we need to do is stress that locally as best
we can the public service announcement, and I can tell you we sent a message to the Governor's
office just yesterday after the meeting of these, uh, Eastern Iowa Hospitals to, uh... uh, ask for
stronger mandates, stronger, uh, requirements to mask people. Um, my feeling is, and I think
the feeling unanimously was that these new measures with restrictions about 100 individuals
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outdoors and 25 individuals indoors is just inadequate. Um, I, you know, my feeling is it's not
based on science and we need stronger measures so that we can keep our community safe, and
keep our hospitals functioning and keep our healthcare providers safe.
Teague: All right. Thank ... thanks everybody for chimin' in. I do want to allow, uh, some space for any
entity updates, um, and also after that we're gonna have two other things that's gonna happen
before we kind of get to the end of the ... end of our time here, but we'll have remarks from any
of our legislative delegates, and I see that, um, we have a representative from the University of
Iowa, that we'll also have speak to us and we wanna make sure that we have time for Rod
today, as well. Um, and we wanna allow for, uh, comments from the public. So, I'm gonna ask
that anyone from enti ... entity that has an update if you can, urn, have a representative from your
entity give an update, and we'll start, um, right now. I know that, uh, Councilor Weiner from
Johnson... from Iowa City Council is gonna be our ..our representative, so I will start with
Councilor Weiner while everybody gets, uh, their representative all figured out.
Weiner: First, thank you all for coming today on such short notice. There are some advantages to
Zoom it turns out. Um, the ... I mean Iowa City ...the Mayor just re ... reupped our face covering,
our mask mandate, and it will be .... and it now is extended through, um, January 15'x', so that it
goes through the holidays. We have some, as ... as ... as ... as either Dr Scheckel or Dr. Salinas
referred to, the holidays are coming up, Thanksgiving's coming up Christmas is coming up.
Um, from our perspective in Iowa City, we really want to keep everyone safe and well, so we
urge you to take the long perspective that ... that with s vaccine on ... vaccines on the horizon, it
will not be ... we will not be in this situation a year from now. So please Zoom your
Thanksgiving. Just stay with your small family group, do whatever you can to keep yourselves
safe at this point. Um, the numbers are ... are skyrocketing. (garbled) Just today, um, there
were, uh, 30 deaths recorded. There's 1,200 ho ... hospitalized, 166 new cases in Johnson
County, um, and just next door in Linn County, they were at, um, 375 new cases, and Polk is at
608. We've doubled our cases, um, over the last two weeks and we're three times the national
average. So my view is, this is, you know, public health is not a popularity contest. It's about
public health and keeping everyone safe. I'm worried about our ...our communities. We're
worried about our communities who are ... who are more vulnerable, elderly people, BIPOC..the
BIPOC community, as well as those who have pre-existing conditions. Um, and so we really all
need to do our part that, you know, the mask you wear today is not just gonna protect others, it's
gonna protect you too. So we're gonna continue getting this message out. Would really urge
any media who are on this call to please help us get this message out, um, and... and as well as
any ideas you have. You can find our emails and phone numbers on ... on ... on our ..on the Iowa
City website. Please let us know.
Teague: Any other entities with significant updates, please chime in. I know that Johnson County
updated, uh, extended their mask order and also the, uh, Iowa City Community School District
is now goin' virtual as of...starting Monday.
Donahue: (mumbled) North Liberty. Basically as of tomorrow we are splitting our employees' work
time into different shifts and different teams, and so we're trying to ... that's one of the initial
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things that we did a long time ago and find it necessary to do again. We are also curtailing our
activities in the Library to where there can be appointments only (mumbled) for computer use
only, and also for persons who need to get their drivers license cause that's the only convenient
kiosk. Our, um, Community Center is such that we have reduced the number of appointments
and that they'll ... uh, carefully monitored to around eight or 10 people on an appointment basis
and a member only basis. So that's the way that we've been shutting things right now.
From: I wanna report for University Heights... oh, I'm sorry.
Eyestone: No, go ahead, Louise.
From: Okay, thank you, Shawn. I wanna report for University Heights, you know, cause of our close
proximity to Kinnick Stadium. Since we're kind of known for tailgating, but since the first
game, we've had two home games, and, uh, we've had very good success with very little or no
tailgating, no more than 10 people can, uh, be in a yard and they have to social distance and
wear masks, and we're also not allowing parking in yards. During football, cars park all over
residents' yards. That's not allowed. Um, we're also, uh, put a stop to outdoor vending and, uh,
as I said, the groups of greater than 10 individuals are prohibited from gathering, um, and
groups of any size are prohibited from gathering on all public property, and we've been very
successful for the first two games and the University Heights Police Department has been, um,
covering this and talking to people, and we've had very good success with it. And that's ... and
we're gonna continue with it as football season continues.
Eyestone: I'm gonna give a quick update on the School District, uh, where we're at and probably a little
editorializing on my part too, but, uh, as Mayor Teague said, we are starting Monday, um, going
back to 100% online. Um, one of the difficulties we have is trying to still work with the State
guidelines, which are arguably not great, uh, in terms of when we can or can't shut down our
school, and then we only get the approval for two weeks at a time when we do get it. Um, there
is always the option, uh, for us as board members to decide we're just going to ignore the State
and do whatever we want. I will tell you that, um, I spoke with, uh, the superintendent of the
Des Moines Public Schools. As your ... as many of you are probably aware, they did not start
going to school like they were supposed to, um, for many, many weeks, and they went through
some mediation with Department of Ed and they were told that they could count half of the time
that they were fully online and not the rest. They had to make up the rest of it. So that would
be a significant challenge if we were to go down that road. Um, the other piece I would throw
out there, uh, what we hear from the public, right, is that we're voting to shut down all of the
sports and other extracurriculars, right, and our focus is clearly on the safety of the kids in the
school, and that's a State sort of punitive thing that they have added on with, uh, sports and
things like that. Uh, but what I would ask, and I don't know, maybe this is more towards, uh,
Joe and I think Dave was on there. I don't know where the State athletic unions land. It would
help if they would just postpone all of their stuff, right, just push winter sports out, push the
state's, uh, like the football's goin' on now. I ... I don't know why they feel the need they have to
have it done right now. Right? I understand that the kids have worked hard and the coaches
worked hard, and they don't warm just cancel it all together, but it can happen at a different
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time. So that would take one burden off of us as a school district, and then obviously if we
were able to focus our energies on how we're gonna help, uh, our staff work and how to help
our students learn, instead of just constantly talking about how do we keep people from getting
sick. Right? That's the focus that we should be spending our time on. But we're not allowed to
because we have to spend so much time trying to keep everybody healthy and safety because
our ...our state's not doing it. Um, and I appreciate all the local stuff. I ... I think that our numbers
show that our schools have done a pretty good job, um, when we've had half the kids in there on
a hybrid model, of staying relatively healthy, um, but it's not zero cases, right? There's cases
there. Um, and one thing I would just kind of ask. I don't know how we make it happen, but
one of the things I hear frequently is locally, right, but Johnson County is so much better than
the rest of the state in how they're doing, which I guess is a true statement. But it's also still
really bad, right, when the rest of state is terrible, and we're just like the least bad one. That's
not great. And so I don't know how we more publicly say that ... here's some good places around
the country that are doing it better or even around the world that are doing it way better than us,
and making that much more public, because we do hear that a lot, that Johnson County's doing
really well. And so I think that's when people start lettin' their guard down. So that's... that's my
editorializing.
Teague: Thank you.
Lundell: This is, um (both talking)
Scheckel: (mumbled)
Lundell: ... from Coralville.
Scheckel: (mumbled)
Lundell: ... feedback, it sounds like. I'm not quite sure why.
Teague: You sound fine now.
Lundell: Do I sound fine now? Okay, good. I may have had two screens open or something. But
anyhow, um, yeah, we're tryin' to, you know, keep up the good fight in Coralville, as well. Um,
we've got the portable signs that we've had up for some (garbled) people to ... to mask up,
thumbs up, uh, information, of course, on all the buses and city facilities. Um, we've been
trying to be very vigilant at our Recreation Department to control the numbers, uh, even though
there... players would like to stay in play in much larger numbers than are permitted.
We're ... we're enforcing the rules there. Um, so whatever we can do. We're just trying to
reinforce it. So, um, like everybody else.
Green -Douglass: Um, John, this Lisa Green -Douglass. I just wanted to let you know about an email we
received today and it was regarding people going into the city hall in Coralville unmasked and,
um, there ... there wasn't any kind of enforcement going on and, you know, we had reports from
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one of our offices and we had to really just kind of, you know, get verbally firm and... and
remind them that we have to set the example, and if we're not doing it and we're out there
saying, oh, it needs to be done and the numbers are rising and look at what the State's not doing,
if we're not doing it, um, you know, sorry, sorry to be, you know, grumpy here but, um, that was
the report we got, that it's not happening at city hall in Coralville. (both talking) ...people
coming in and it needs to be enforced, and so, and we're doing it. There are ways for it to be
done. So, just sayin'.
Lundell: Yeah, well, Lisa, we've investigated that and we find that to be, um, largely inaccurate. Uh,
I'm not gonna say we're perfect, but, um, the staff did an investigation after that message was
sent to us earlier today and ... and, you know, comments were made that we haven't seen anyone
in quite some time entering without a mask. There are signs on the door requiring `em. So, um,
we will continue to do our best and ... but I don't ... I don't think that report was accurate.
Teague: Any other entities would like to give an update?
Rasmussen: I'll jump in here for the City of Solon, Cami Rasmussen, City Administrator. We are
starting on Monday a six-week modified restriction. We will go back to appointments only for
city hall and, um, encourage people to do their business remotely. All meetings will be held via
Zoom, and the Community Center is already running restricted hours and modified recreation
programs. So that's our plan. We plan to stay in that mode for the next six weeks.
Taylor: This is Chris Taylor. I'll report for Swisher, um, points north. Um, we also are closing city hall
to walk-in traffic. Um, the library ...we had a city council meeting on Monday night and the
library reported that they were considering their options, and then yesterday the library also
went to curbside pickup only. The library's suspending all in-person programming too. Um, so
we are... we're also trying to set that example. Our public works department has been
staggering and self -segregating now for ...for quite some time, just trying to keep everyone from
not getting it all at once. Um, without getting into any personnel details, the administration is
dealing with COVID exposures. So we're trying to, uh, limit that as much as we possibly can.
Um, also I'll just report, not as a ... an elected official, but as a parent of several students at
College Community, College Community, um, is moving to all virtual for two weeks to try and
nip this in the bud. They've got, um, some increasing numbers there and then they'll go back to
their hybrid program. They also had an emergency meeting on Monday night where they have
put in place some rules for next semester, where you will only be able to opt into the all virtual
model if your child has a health condition or if they live with someone who has a health
condition. Um, I think the timing of that was really unfortunate, um, given the increasing
numbers we're seeing. I expect they're gonna get some pushback from that and maybe a
strongly worded letter from the mayor. Um, but I think everyone's sort of looking for some
kind of unified guidance and not finding it, um, and that continues to be a frustration for ...for a
lot of us. Um, I'll also mention that this morning, uh, we had a call with the Executive Board
for the Iowa League of Cities. Mayor Lundell was on that. John jump in if...if you wanna
weigh in. John mentioned this group at that call this morning, um, as one of those things that
we do well in Johnson County, that we all speak with one another at least once a quarter and try
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and coordinate these things. Uh, one of the questions that came up was once we have a vaccine,
what is going to be the role of the cities in helping to promote that and helping to get that out
there. I think we all agree on that call this morning and on this call that it would be best to have
a statewide coordinated response, um, when we have a vaccine in place, but I think we also
don't want to necessarily take that for granted. And as we move forward, I hope that this group
and ... and all of us at the city level are thinking about how we might facilitate that when the time
comes.
Rettig: Hey, Chris, can you hear me, it's Janelle. Um, if...if David Wilson's on the phone or Sam Jarvis
can get back, um, they actually are having meetings working on that, and they did a trial run
with the flu shot. So if Dave Wilson or Sam is on here, they can talk, but our entities were
helping in that. It just may not have come up to our level to (mumbled) that.
Taylor: Yeah, Dave was on as a (garbled)
Wilson: ... can you guys hear me (both talking) Yeah we ... Sam, I see ya on the screen as well. Um, we
had a trial run. We used the fall influenza clinic down at the fairgrounds (mumbled) working
with the hospitals or University of Iowa, Public Health, and others, and there is a coordinated
effort on how that will, um, roll out, and it continues to evolve, but there will be a coordinated
effort on that. Uh, but more concern is just those people that might not choose to get it. So I
think there needs to be a concerted effort to encourage people to actually seek out the
vaccination and get vaccinated, um, because that will be a challenge. Uh, there is a contingent
out there that believes it was, you know, rushed to market and that type of thing, and... and not
that it was necessarily a ... a safe and efficient process. So we'll have that challenge to work
with, um, and I think it's important that is a coordinated, unified voice. We work to deliver the
message that people should try and get immunized when that is available and ... and there will be
a hierarchy of...of what groups of people get that immunization first and that ... that vaccine.
Taylor: Yeah, I'm just, you know, speaking for my own residents, um, I think we should also keep in
mind the folks who might be on the fence, who could take it or not, but they might be mobility -
limited or they're older folks who don't drive anymore, um, and might find it just too
burdensome, um, to go to some centralized location. So that's another population to keep in
mind, which I know ... I mean that's an obvious thing that ... that the professionals are keeping in
mind.
Eyestone: I forgot one thing from the School District, uh, and you know, it was Tuesday night that we
decided we were gonna go ahead and, uh, go online starting on Monday, but we mentioned
Tuesday night that if it got real problematic at any one school we'd take them down early, and
we had to do just that. So Hills Elementary closed down, um, today and tomorrow, ahead of the
other ones because of, uh, really high absentee rate, um, with both students and staff. So I
forgot to mention that earlier.
Teague: Any other entity updates?
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Weiner: Bruce, I think Mary Mascher is on as a ... as a non -participant and, um, wants to speak. I urge..I
sort of urged her to raise her digital hand. We've been trying to get her switched, but we haven't
been able to figure out which (garbled)
Remarks from State Legislative Delegates & University of Iowa
Teague: All right, thanks for lettin', uh, lettin' me know. I know that Kellie, the City Clerk for Iowa
City, will get her over and if there is anyone else that is in the participant that, um, is a part of
the entities or legislative official, please raise your hand and we'll get you switched over. Um, if
there is... I wanna allow any more time for any entities that want to speak before we move on to
our legislative delegates, and then, uh, our University of Iowa representative. All right,
legislative delegates, uh, please, um, it is your time to share.
Bolkcom: Well, I'll go ahead and start. Good afternoon, everybody. Um, thanks... thanks for inviting us
on the call. It's been good to hear the updates. I want to just start by saying thank you to our
city leaders that are on the call and ... and to your staffs, have done just an amazing amount of
work to ... to address the pandemic. Um, I think we couldn't all be prouder of the work of the
Johnson County Department of Public Health and all the... all that they've taken on and our... and
our County leaders as well and ... and their staffs, and frankly just running this election recently.
Um, and of course, our School District has had just phenomenal challenges trying to ... trying to
take care of our kids and our... and our teachers, and it's great to have the kind of healthcare
professionals in our community to support us as well. I think everybody's quite disappointed,
uh, in the State's response to protecting Iowans and trying to balance what goes on in our
communities with saving lives. The Governor's pretty much solely responsible for kind of the
State's response. The legislature has not really had much voice at all in ... in any of the decisions.
I was hopeful that the ... with the election behind us, we'd have maybe a... kind of a different
posture, um, from the Governor on ... on masks and on ... on some of, uh, our ...the approaches she
was gonna take and ... and unfortunately, it seems like the message from her is you're... you're on
your own, and I think we've ... we have good local leaders on these issues, and I encourage folks
to continue to be aggressive and ... and having this on your agenda, uh, and ... and pushing on. I
mean, the City of Iowa City's move forward with the mask mandate, uh, it's a good thing. I
think people should think about that. I'm also, in terms of thinking about the federal ... the good
news maybe is that we have ... we're gonna have a new president who is gonna follow the science
and ... and probably be more aggressive and, uh, in ... in leading a national effort on this. Um, the
election, by the way, is over. It was decided Joe Biden did win. And it's really depressing that
they are not able to get the kind of support in this transition to move ahead. So if there are ... if
there are interest by councils to send letters to senator... our United States senators urging them
to, uh, allow the Biden administration to get going on this pandemic, uh, I encourage you to
think about that as well, but again, just thanks for all your work. We go back on January l la'. I
know we'll be having meetings with some of the entities on this call prior to going back, but
stay in touch with us. We look forward to, uh, working with all you when ... and
moving... moving ahead in trying to confront this ... the pandemic.
Jacoby: I think Joe was very polite, uh, more polite than I can be. Uh, there is no State response, the
Governor's completely failed, and I apologize to everyone on the webinar today, and also
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especially to the hospitals, the VA, Mercy Hospital, and the University of Iowa Hospitals.
(mumbled) and I know they cannot comment, have hospitals boxed in the comer ...not to say
something in terms of what the doctors think and other healthcare professionals, nurses,
everyone across the healthcare spectrum. What we should be doing and especially the
administrators saying you cannot come out and say certain things that go against my policy,
though I haven't seen a policy yet. Uh, it is a little frustratin' and then the ... on the note about
high school sports. I think if we're truly getting toward the third period of the wrestling match,
I warm encourage everyone to stay tough because whether you're ahead or behind, you can
always get pinned in that third period. We gotta ride it out and then also if there is the vaccines
on the way, and we're actually lookin' at a calendar that, uh, as Dave Wilson mentioned can
happen, then I think it's good to go to the athletic union and say, listen, if we're looking at a
roll-out of vaccines in January, in February, can we hold off on some of these sports until the
spring, uh, and I think that's a good thing. That's one of the positive things we're lookin' at now.
Uh, sorry to be kind of depressing, but I am so frustrated with the Governor's office. I think the
Governor's staff has blocked us in Johnson County. I think they issued a no -contact order for
me, that, uh, it's ... I truly would like a special session and it can be a special session of the whole
body, or it could be the Legislative Council, but actually get some planning in place, that there's
input from all of us, and again, with the hospitals. Thank you for everything you're doing cause
we know that we not only serve Johnson County people, we're serving everyone in Iowa and
from other states too.
Teague: Any other legislators? I did see (several talking, garbled) Mary Mascher here, uh (echoing)
Mascher: Hi, I'm on, Bruce, thanks for recognizing me. I was just going to encourage all of us to share
how we're going to spend our holidays. I think it's important for all of us to recognize that we
may be not with our families this year, and that that's okay, and whether we call them or via
Zoom or whatever we do, um, but I want us to be posting that on social media so others can see
that we're doing our part, and that we are trying to make sure that we're being safe and that
we're trying to protect the workers at the hospital. All of our nurses and doctors and those who
are inundated right now need our support and that's one way we can do it. So I would really
encourage everyone to post `I'm not going to be with my family this year, and this is why,' um,
because I think, um, with the outbreaks that we're seeing, we have to look at what we can do
each ... in each of us, and I think that's one of the statements that we can make. I was gonna go
over to my son's house. I'm not now. Um, it just doesn't make any sense. And it's not worth it
to me or them, and again, to every single hospital healthcare worker that we have out there, to
put anybody in danger like that. So I'm just encouraging folks to order out if you need to, you
know, do those things, even identify who you're ordering from. If that's gonna help some of our
local businesses (mumbled) that. But I think we have to have a very clear message that we're
taking it seriously here. Um, Shawn, I heard you loud and clear. Our numbers are increasing
too. And we need to be held accountable for that and know that community spread means all of
us have to do our part. And I think that's one way we can do it is by letting folks know, I
probably won't be with them for Christmas either. And the mail still works. So I can send
letters and notes and cards and maybe we need to get back to that old-fashioned Christmas
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where we're sending notes to people again, right, not through internet, but just sending letters.
So I'm just encouraging folks to do that.
Teague: Thanks, Representative Mascher. Any other legislative delegates... that would like to
(mumbled) to say anything at this time? All right, we are on to the University of Iowa.
Welcome, Rod, who is our ..who is the Vice President of Finance and Operations, welcome.
Lehnertz: Great. Thank you, Mayor Teague, and thank you for hosting this. And frankly, thank you
for, um, your calm, steady, and strong leadership in what has been an amazingly challenging
year, um, and I, um, expand that to my virtual meeting table with everyone here. It's, um, you
know, we're a university hosted by the communities that are represented here and as we share
our concerns and our despair and our challenges, I ... I also know I'm, uh, preaching to the choir
when we talk about what we're trying to do as a group of leaders here. Uh, I don't have to stray
very far from our community and I feel like when I wear a mask I feel like I'm the odd man out
and it feels strange. It is exactly the opposite here and that's to ... to the thanks to the credit
of...of all of you and many others that ... that have been representing that. I ... I did also want to
especially, um, thank a couple, um, Dave Wilson and Sam Jarvis, their work with Johnson
County. The, uh, Sam, your ...your team of dedicated and expert tracers are ... are, uh, have been,
uh, invaluable to the University of Iowa this semester in difference making. And so the work
and the partnership, I can tell you from many of our peers out there, uh, they are greatly jealous
of the relationship we have with our County and our County Public Health and the partnerships
we have. It is unique and it has been difference -making for us, so thank you and ... and finally, I
mean, all of you thanked, but, um, Dr...Dr. Salinas, you ... you represent thousands who work as
dedicated health professionals at UIHC, and when I give tours of the campus, I have always
said it... there is the, um, most popu... most densely populated square mile in the state of Iowa
and it's always been a bragging point. It ... it now means something different and also means
something that can be from a health perspective dangerous and ... and the day in, day out, night
in, night out efforts of their group and, Joe, to your .. Senator Bolkcom, to your comments. One
of the challenges is, as Dr. Salinas said in the art of knowing how much capacity, the University
of Iowa takes great pride in its mandate to take all patients from the state of Iowa. So when
Council Bluffs' hospitals can no longer take what they can take and shut down or decide to
close shop or...or...or take care of their health workers, those ambulances come to UIHC. The
prisoners throughout the state of Iowa come to UIHC. We don't say no. And so this is a
challenge we have as these numbers build, um, that is faced every day by Dr. Salinas and our
team. So thank you, thank you, and you know, stay healthy, um, and all of us should... should
try to help (mumbled) After all those thank yous, I'll give you just a few updates from the
University perspective. Thanksgiving is approaching, as you may know, as I think you know.
We have this semester adjusted, the semester, so at the Thanksgiving break, uh, we will finish
the semester fully online. So the students as they leave, uh, this campus, and some will choose,
depending on what their family or living situations will be, can choose to still be here. I can tell
you the numbers through our, um, inquiries with all of the residents in a residence hall system,
uh, roughly 1,200 will be coming back to campus to do their virtual... all virtual classes from say
their residence hall room, but so there will be some students here but vastly less, uh, students to
finish the semester. Mayor From, you mentioned the efforts of University Heights. Thank you
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for the football. We were all concerned about how that might impact things and ... and, you
know, none of us do it perfectly, but we only have two home games left, one of them the day
after Thanksgiving. So that's kind of a different sort of gathering of crowds less so, and the last
one December 12`h, it'll probably be freezing cold. So, and as we've seen with some of the
trends on that front, um, it's tenuous as to whether they will happen. I mean, we will all be
watching with the rest of the nation on that front. We implore or we ask our students. We plead
with our students to take care, not only of themselves and their neighbors, but now their family
members as they're heading back home for Thanksgiving. This last week, these last days, very
important to think about the choices made outside of the classroom. And... and we recognize
that the students haven't experienced a university setting and a university year like we would
have hoped for them or like many of us experienced. That time will come, but we ... we thank
them for their efforts to be part of this mask -friendly community and continue forth with that.
Um, the increasing numbers have us reaching out to the staff and faculty on our campus as well.
We will be sending out messaging. We were roughly, um, 85 to 90% of those working at the
University of Iowa, if they weren't and those numbers were based on UIHC and maybe those
who are absolutely required to be on campus. When the crisis broke out in the spring and again
at the beginning of the fall semester, we were as high as 80 to 90% at home. Currently, or what
it has been recently, is about a third, a third, and a third, with, uh, one third at home, one third
working on campus, and a third hybrid. We will be asking all supervisors to evaluate every
position and if they can be at home and do their job, we are asking them once again to do that.
So we are looking for a far more decompressed campus, uh, in these ... in these, um, weeks to
come, all in ... in, you know, the interests of public health, and to that end, with, um, Shawn,
with ... with, um, Iowa City and other school districts making these decisions, making the
decisions to go fully virtual, uh, we do have support for our University of Iowa students through
Human Resources at the university. Our ...our COVID website, uh, coronavirus.uiowa.edu for
services for those who have concerns, parental concerns, and coverage at home, work, work and
personal, um, balances and so we looked to ... to support our ...our many, many, many staff
members during that time, as well. As we ... as we look ahead to the spring semester, which will
race upon us as we know, we have made some modifications. We're delaying the beginning of
the spring semester, uh, Monday, January 25th, uh, will be the start of the semester. There will
be no spring break at the University. We do in working with our student government and our
shared governance, we will be, um, placing some, if you will, mental rest days within the
semester, but not intended to be tied to long weekends, those kinds of things, but just moments
for mental rest to address, again, the stresses all of us are facing and in coordination with the
shared governance leaders on that front. Um, you know, January, as we've seen through the
COVID crisis, January is a long ways away, two months was a long ways away in the
developments that occur. We recognize that things can shift. We have those working on
campus are meeting almost daily, but ... but weekly on the strategies and scenarios we have for
our campus during the break, and after the break. As we know more, we will, um, we've made
a commitment to our university community and to the students that no later than January 15th
will we make any changes to how we would execute the spring semester, but we continue to
work with our local, state, federal experts, um, and ... and our Board of Regents, and obviously
our President in evaluating all of the health first options that we'll make in trying to bring
students, um, back one way or another to a University of Iowa experience for the thousands,
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urn, enrolled at the University of Iowa. So it will remain ... it's a fluid situation. So we will
remain like that, adjusting to the news we have, um, and, you know, hopefully be able to have a
semester that is similar to the semester we had this time, or at least with the hybrid of...of
mostly online classes, currently about three quarters of the courses are ... are fully online, and
then the others hybrid, a mixture of online and some, depending on the course work, needed
face to face, and again, we'll adjust as we need to depending on the news we all face together
over the next couple of months. Um, Mayor Teague, with that, I'll ... I'll stop with that update for
you.
Teague: Thanks to you and for the University for all the things that you all are doin' to keep the
students safe, and of course, you're a huge part of Johnson County, and so we, uh, do appreciate
the partnership and your presence today. Thanks to all the panelists that have, uh (garbled) I
hear a echo. (garbled) Okay, we're gonna move towards community, uh, public comment, and I
will call your first name and you'll be able to speak to us. Um, I see Lee has raised his hand and
if there's anyone that would like to speak during public comment, please raise your hand. If
you're on the phone, press *9 and I will call your name. Welcome, Lee.
Hermiston: That was an accident. Please disregard.
Teague: All right, no worries. Anyone else from the public, would you like to, uh, say anything?
Hearing nothing or seeing no one, well thanks again to all the panelists. Our next, um, and
everybody in attendance (mumbled) our legislative individuals that are here today, really
appreciate you taking time for this emergency meeting. It's very important as ... as has been
shared here today. Um, our next joint entity meeting will be Monday, January 18th and I
believe that the City of Coralville is hosting this, if I am not mistaken, and other than that those
meeting agenda items will be sent to all of us. Is there anything else for the good of the cause
for now?
Donahue: Yeah, Bruce, Terry Donahue here. Um, I think in trying to sum things up in my mind here, is
our general message or should our general message be to the general public, wear your mask
and that personal sacrifice now, especially going into the holidays, will save lives later. I think
that's what we're really trying to say.
Teague: Yeah, absolutely. I think you're exactly right with (garbled) Yes. Anything else?
Weiner: I just want to really extend best wishes or what... support to all the ... all the healthcare workers
because I have ... because you are working so hard, under such difficult conditions, um, and
really would ask everybody to do exactly what Mayor Donahue just -just said, for the good of
everyone, but particularly for your good, and I wanted to ask one quick question is ... are the
hospitals okay on PPE at this point?
Scheckel: Can you hear me? Uh, yeah, we do have adequate PPE right now. We went through a period
initially where we were having a lot of trouble. But we have managed to procure that, so ... but if
the numbers keep rising up that could change. That ... we really appreciate the well-wishing
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from the community and, uh, so we're gonna certainly do the best we can, but we really do need
the help of the community.
Wilson: (garbled) Wilson ... we have deployed a couple (garbled) to Mercy Iowa City. (garbled) Uh,
there have been no shortages that we've been made aware of locally.
Scheckel: The Health Department has really been a big help with us, initially when we were having
shortages. So we kind of made it through that initial period without that. So thank you.
Teague: Anything else for the ... for this time together?
Public Comment
None.
Future Joint Entity Meeting
Eyestone: Mayor Teague, I was just curious, the... housekeeping wise, the January 18th is Martin Luther
King, Jr. Day. Are we going to have the meeting on that day? Or do we wanna move it?
Teague: I'm happy you mentioned that. (laughs)
Eyestone: I think this came up last year as well, cause you know ...that, meaning the third Monday of
the month, and it lands that way almost every year.
Teague: So we pulled an emergency meeting now. Would people be willing to go to the fourth Monday
of that month, of January? I'm seein' some noddin' of heads and some ... all right. All right, we have a
consensus. So we'll ... we'll connect with Coralville and had ... see, um, I'm sure ifll work out. So we'll
have it the fourth Monday of January, and my assumption is we should probably just have this the
fourth Monday of January every year, moving forward. Because I'm assuming it's gonna come up
every year. All right, so yes. All right. Great. If nothin' else, thanks to everybody again. We all have
our charge today. Our elected officials, everybody that has spoken on behalf of their entity, their
hospital, the University of Iowa, and then those that are in the public. You have your charge: wear your
mask, distance, and wash your hands, and as Mayor Donahue has said, I mean, he couldn't have said it
better. So thanks to everybody for bein' here today. We are adjourned.
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Entities meeting of November 12, 2020.