8/2/2020

My dear Friend & POTUS, DJT,

            What a relief that Storm Isaias is now disorganized and has turned into a fast-moving tropical storm rather than a hurricane! Sheriff Mike Chitwood’s county might have some bad flooding tonight as the height of the storm will be passing through his area when high tide hits at 8:00 PM. I trust that all of his 1st responders are ready.

            I hope you’ll read the article in the WP today about Hayden Winkelman Unified School District in Arizona where the superintendent, Jeff Gregorich (JG), is distraught about state edicts that he must open his school on Aug. 17. He runs a tiny district, 420 students in 3 schools. He’s already lost one teacher to CV & he knows he can’t keep everyone healthy if everyone comes back to school. He can’t afford to lose any funding. He’s desperate!

Please give AMM a call & make sure that districts, like JG’s, can get all the money they need to put their kids into pods of 10 students with one teacher. Researchers at UT-Austin have shown that’s the best way to prevent the spread of CV. It’s expensive but necessary. I’m glad that the stimulus packages the Dems & GOP are proposing both include funds for schools, but I don’t like the GOP idea of sending some of the $$ to private schools. I worry that $90 – 100 billion won’t be enough for the small pod strategy. Please ask someone in your office to do the math on that.

I encourage you to take a look at the sobering article in the LAT today that talks about how ocean front property in Manhattan Beach was stolen from a Black family in 1924. It illustrates how governmental action has prevented the families of formerly enslaved people from acquiring wealth, making it clear that reparations are in order. I hope you’ll start considering how you can share your wealth.

BYBS,