Whitmer Interview – Podcast August 24, 2020

08/25/20 • 44 min

Future Of The Verde River. There’s a saying in the American West that whiskey is for drinking. Water is for fighting. The issue is especially acute in the Arizona desert. To discuss the current and long-term availability of our most important resource, Democratic Perspective welcomes Tom Whitmer who, as Cottonwood Utilities Director, manages the city’s Water Resources division.

Whitmer is a fourth-generation Arizonan who has worked in the water industry for more than 30 years for companies such as the Salt River Project, Santa Cruz Valley Water District, Imperial Irrigation District, International Environmental Solutions, Troy Biosciences, and the Arizona Department of Water Resources (ADWR). In his current position, he is responsible for ensuring the sustainability of water supplies for the City of Cottonwood while preserving baseflow in the Verde River. Given that Arizona is facing new development, a mega drought, and climate change, he offers a surprisingly optimistic and positive outlook.

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Baker Interview – Podcast August 17, 2020

Assessing The Economic Impact Of The Pandemic. Democratic Perspective welcomes Dean Baker, co-founder of the Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR) in Washington, D.C. to discuss the short-term and long-term effects of the pandemic. He begins by noting that we’re really not out of the woods yet. Baker says that the current infection rate poses many problems for the immediate future saying, “It would be great to open the schools, but we’re really not prepared to do that, at least in many parts of the country because we did not take the steps necessary.”

Nevertheless, Baker is optimistic for the long-term. “I think we’re seeing some very, very interesting… stories play out here. We’re going to see permanent changes in behavior. A lot more people are not going to be commuting into offices so employers are not going to need as much office space. All of those people tasked with taking care of those offices won’t be needed. Restaurants, gyms – things that people do before and after work…purchases of business clothes. There’ll be a lot less demand in a wide range of areas. But we should really think of this as an increase in productivity. That’s a good thing. It frees up resources for a lot of other things. The list of needs is a long one.”

For example, Baker states that the capital can be used to respond to climate change. “There’s a whole range of things we need to do to reduce greenhouse gas emissions,” he says. “We also need more childcare. That’s become very clear in the pandemic. Parents who want to work need a place for their kids during the day.”

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Schaitberger Interview – Podcast August 31, 2020

One Nation Indivisible Against Trump. Democratic Perspective welcomes Sharli Schaitberger, a member of the steering committee for Indivisible Arizona in Phoenix. She recalls that Indivisible was begun by a couple of former congressional staffers who wrote a guide to help counter Trump. It took off after the 2016 election. By early 2017, before Trump was even inaugurated, there were thousands of volunteers for Indivisible nationwide.

Schaitberger notes it was a grassroots organization that grew from the bottom up, saying, “At first it was just friends who gathered in their living rooms. The began by showing up at representative’s town halls and asking questions. The group now numbers more than a million members nationwide and about 400 in Phoenix of which about 40 are very active.

Given the increasing number of lies from Trump, Schaitberger reports that Indivisible has formed a truth brigade. “We use every way possible to put out the truth,” she says. “We’re continuing to send letters and make phone calls. She also says, “We send postcards to voters,” noting that most of the postcards are to get people to sign up to vote.

To learn more about Indivisible and to find a chapter near you, visit Indivisible.org. You can also check out the new book, We Are Indivisible: A Blueprint For Democracy After Trump.