By Kelsey Fortune

During Tuesday’s City Council Meeting, the Council appointed commission members. I was hoping to be one. Instead, after making my apology public, I was called out and shamed in a public forum where I had no option to respond.

I missed my interview. I don’t know if anyone else has noticed, but we are living through difficult times right now. Staff and I had scheduled a fifteen-minute interview with Dan Carson and Gloria Partida on Monday, November 23rd. Unfortunately, my grandmother, who has been in a nursing home since a stroke in the Spring of 2019, was diagnosed with COVID-19, and my mind was elsewhere. I forgot about my interview completely.

I emailed an apology. The following morning, I realized my mistake. I was extremely disappointed with myself for missing such an important meeting. The whole day was filled with guilt and sadness. I emailed the staff member with whom I had been corresponding about the interview.

“I want to sincerely apologize for missing my interview yesterday. My grandma has been diagnosed with COVID, and I am completely consumed with this news. I'm sorry that I wasted Dan and Gloria's time. I hope that I can still be considered to serve on a commission.”

I received a compassionate response from staff on Monday, November 30th. I understood this to mean that my application had been forwarded along with this information.

“I am truly sorry to hear about your grandma’s diagnoses, and wish her a speedy recovery!! Your application has been forwarded to the entire City Council for their consideration. Appointments will occur tomorrow at their Council meeting.”

I called in to apologize during public comment. Instead of responding with compassion, Council responded by called me out in their discussion. It was stated that this was the first they were hearing from me. From my perspective, that is not true. I reached out the day following the missed interview. Regardless, speaking this way about a private citizen in a public forum where they cannot respond is inappropriate, unprofessional, and humiliating.

Please consider what you expect from our elected officials.

Dear Folks,

Came across this little treasure…..actually, it was shared with me by a friend of mine. (Isn't that how we all REALLY keep up with a complex topic these days!).

Here is a link to an interview by Autumn Labbe-Renault *** from Davis Media Access, broadcast on KDRT: 

https://kdrt.org/audio/covid-19-community-report-1200pm-dec-1st-2020.

I do not know Autumn but my friend has been suggesting for weeks that I listen to her broadcast because they think she is good at this coronavirus coverage.

Hey, they are right!  I am impressed with the interviewing approach.  Check it out!

BTW, as a full disclosure, I have to tell you that the Health Officer is a former student of mine from when I taught in the Masters in Public Health Program at UC Davis School of Medicine.  But she is her own independent person and her views, enhanced by years of experience after she earned her MPH, are her own. I would like to think, though, that I helped a little bit along the way!  :)

Check out this interview and perhaps keep a notepad handy, in case you think of another question that YOU would like answered!

Regards,

John

*** About Autumn Labbe-Renault

Autumn Labbe-Renault (she/her/hers) is executive director of Davis Media Access. She launched the "COVID-19 Community Report" on March 17, 2020. She's been spending part of her time during the pandemic documenting local experience and response through audio and video archives. Her views are her own.

Well, well, well friends, how is it going?

Did you go all out on Cyber Monday getting gifts for family and friends (and ahem, yourself) online?  As it turns out, I did not buy ANYTHING on Cyber Monday.  

Now, let you get the impression that I am an anti-commercial purest, nothing could be further from the truth.  As an MBA, I am a "card carrying capitalist" and understand that personal spending by individuals and families does the majority of the work in moving the economy in the US in positive directions (hence the need for the Congress to prime the pump with relief checks, extended unemployment income payments , etc).  No, the fact of the matter is I just don't need anything.  (Thank God!)

But Giving Tuesday?  That's a whole other matter.  From the role model of my parents, the teachings of my church, the reinforcement of "Love thy neighbor as thyself" from the college I went to, I am committed to making a difference in our world even if it is only through small donations to worthy causes.

So, while I took naps yesterday, today I was up early and made four targeted donations.  Who did I give to and why?  Here is the line up:

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Dear Folks,

How are you doing?  You have a nice Thanksgiving?  Slipping into Christmas and New Year's preparations without missing a beat?  Well…. before you leap too far ahead, I wanted to share a news segment from ABC News that I thought was particularly helpful:

Anyway, here is the ABC segment….. you might want to share it with "a friend" or "your crazy relative" who chose to travel during this Thanksgiving holiday despite warnings not to travel this time from every public health authority in the country: https://abcnews.go.com/GMA/News/video/millions-returning-home-holiday-travels-74435579.

Also, while we are talking about testing, how come the Yolo County Corona Virus Testing Dashboard shows that we have tested so few people in our county?  I saw the article in the Enterprise that copied the County dashboard here: https://www.davisenterprise.com/local-news/county-closes-out-worst-covid-week-yet/.

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Hey Folks,

Hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving!  (Or even a mediocre one, beats "regular Thursday").  

This morning I got up surprisingly early to hear the 7 a.m version of network news, tuning into ABC because they seem to provide more scientific and less hysterical coverage of the coronavirus pandemic.

And they did not disappoint.  They had a very good segment on traveling during a pandemic, recommending getting tested about 4 days after your likely CV exposure and getting tested multiple times to establish a monitoring protocol that deals with the occasional "false negative".  

Speaking of multiple tests, I have been tested 11 times.  Why?  I understand the value of tests.  And again, they do not have to be perfect tests to be useful tests!  There is basically no such thing as the perfect biological test, so get used to dealing with "really good but not perfect" tests.

BTW, I have tested NEGATIVE all 11 times.  Do you suppose that I have more useful information than someone who has not been tested at all?  (If you are going to comment, please do your homework, I am not real patient with casual commentary that is misleading, sometimes deliberately… especially during a public health emergency).

Anyway, here is the ABC segment….. you might want to share it with "a friend" or "your crazy relative" who chose to travel during this Thanksgiving holiday despite warnings not to from every public health authority in the country: https://abcnews.go.com/GMA/News/video/millions-returning-home-holiday-travels-74435579

Take care,

John

Subject Line:  COVID19TESTNOREPLY

Dear/Estimado(a)  JOHN TROIDL,                                                                                    

The result of your 11/23/2020 SARS COV-2 COVID19 RNA (COVID19) test was NEGATIVE. You do not currently have COVID-19 infection. Please continue to wear a mask when you leave your house, practice social distancing, and wash your hands frequently.

This letter may be presented to your employer, if needed.

Please contact your primary care provider if you have any questions or concerns. If you do not have a primary care provider and would like more information, please call us at 408-579-6183.

=======================================================================

Folks,  I let out a yell "Yessssssssssssss!" when I got those results.  Because I am spending Thanksgiving with my elderly Mom (or better said, she is spending it with me in "Davis Mode") and I wanted to have some evidence that I am not carrying COVID19.  

That was my 9th consecutive NEGATIVE test result and I am grateful to the folks at the Gardner Community Health Center in San Jose when I was down there this week to visit with Mom and prepare our Thanksgiving visit.  

The test was free, no appointment required (walk up), multi-lingual, and the results came back in 48 hours.  I also got a free Santa Clara County Public Health face mask and hand-sanitizer.

Oh, man, I am so grateful this Thanksgiving!

Cheers,

John

Dear Folks,

Day before Thanksgiving and it sure is quiet around here.  And will be tomorrow, too.  Just me and Mom and we're gonna have a fine time.  Electronic greetings to others as we stay safe.

Meanwhile, I have heard some more discussion about coronavirus testing.  Seems to be a popular topic, particularly after a HUGE spike in cases, major increase in % positivity, and hospitals getting busy again.  And, oh, yeah, the highest number of Americans in months died from CV yesterday:  > 2,000.

So, what's the deal on testing?

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