Our first town hall was in-person at a local park.
Folks gave their thoughts about disability awareness, veteran’s health care, and gerrymandering.
Then I drove over to Main Street in Monroe, parked outside the courthouse, put my laptop on my trunk, and did a virtual town hall with another 50 people.
One of the conversations was about housing, and how this is an issue that cuts across the rural/urban divide - which spoke to a larger issue about Union County itself.
You can’t call Union a rural county. Its proximity to Charlotte has led to rapid growth and diversification away from its historic focus on agriculture.
That said, almost half the county is still farmland and agriculture companies rank among its biggest employers.
That’s the beauty of taking a 100 county approach to campaigning: You don’t have to paint with a broad brush. You can get a sense of how certain counties have complex economies and cultures.
Speaking of culture, we went to East Frank Superette and Kitchen for lunch. If you’re in the neighborhood, check it out. Got a panini and mac & cheese. Was outstanding.
Then we stopped by a manufacturer that makes high-end steel trailers used for hauling and heavy construction work.
If you look at the photos I know it looks like the stereotypical ad of a politician touring a factory setting - and we laughed about that - but the best way to learn about the pressures on modern manufacturers is to talk shop with those folks.
Debra and Mick own the place and while they showed me their different kinds of trailers they also talked about how harmful steel tariffs have been and how expensive health care is for their employees, all of whom they pay at least $15 an hour.
(We also met their Chief Morale Officer, a bulldog named Bentley.)
It’s a small business that - like many - has been through a lot over the last year. But they’re back to making plans for expansion and are expecting much better things out of 2021.
Aren’t we all.
Best,
Jeff
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BREAKING: A bipartisan deal on school reopening has been reached.
The two sticking points had been whether districts would be able to respond in the event of an outbreak and whether middle/high schools would resume in-person schooling in a way that allowed for social distancing.
That’s why the last bill was vetoed.
It wasn’t about whether to reopen - it was about how to do it safely.
Today’s deal strikes a balance:
All elementary schools will be required to operate under plan A, which is full in-person instruction with lots of safety precautions. *Note: The majority of elementary schools in the state are already doing this.*
I spent the morning at a vaccination event for teachers and school personnel.
It was a massive operation with lots of moving parts, but I just want to tell you about one piece of it.
In the picture, you can see Georgina filling a syringe with vaccine from the vial.
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That's her designated job at these events: fill syringes.
She's excellent at it, and her skill is absolutely crucial.
Why?
Because, given that she's done it thousands of times, she's learned how to get six or even seven doses out of a vial that officially contains only five.
I watched her work for several minutes.
Basically, she's perfected the art of getting every last drop.
One of the big questions facing Congress right now is how bold the next recovery package needs to be.
From my conversations, it feels like there’s a simple disconnect here.
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For lots of professionals, the economic recovery has already occurred. Their office may have done some layoffs early on, but folks have largely been rehired and things are chugging along.
You see this in the numbers for North Carolina.
Our financial and business services sectors have basically completely recovered in terms of job loss.