Video
State of the County Program a Success
This
year's State of the County program at the Tucson Convention Center on
April 21 was a sold-out success, with the five supervisors each showing
a video detailing issues and accomplishments in their districts, after
a Tohono O'odham Nation citizen sang the Star Spangled Banner in the
O'odham language and before 2006 Board Chairman Elías delivered
a speech on the state of Pima County.
Richard's five-minute video covered his concerns about efforts to preserve Tumamoc Hill, a District Five site that is sacred to several Piman Native American tribes and is rich in archaeological remains, and that is home to the University of Arizona's 103-year-old Desert Laboratory - site of the longest continuous desert-ecology studies in the world. Richard is working with Tucson City Councilman José Ibarra and Congressman Raúl Grijalva to persuade Gov. Janet Napolitano to help them preserve this unique and invaluable site, part of which is under threat of residential development.
The video also details the successes of the Pima County Health Department's collaboration with the UA's Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health in taking preventive information and medical-care assistance to underserved low-income folks in District Five and District Two. Those entities utilize the UA's mobile clinic, with Project Export, to serve communities in the Elvira neighborhood, Sunnyside School District and around St. John's Catholic Church's Casa de San Juan with disease prevention information, referrals to the county's public health system and specialists when needed, and with advice and referrals about social needs that can affect public health. The UA mobile clinic also serves low-income rural areas of Eastern Pima County and beyond.