Listen: Arlington Leaders Discuss Coronavirus Response, Resident Questions

Press release from the City of Arlington:

July 31, 2020

Arlington Mayor Jeff Williams was joined by City leaders July 30, 2020 to address a variety of current events during a telephone town hall meeting.

Topics covered included the City's coronavirus response and community policing. During one question, leaders were asked how they will address Black residents' concerns about police brutality.

"We absolutely recognize racism exists across America," said Arlington Interim Police Chief Jaime Ayala. "From a police perspective, we have begun to review our policies on force, our engagement opportunities. We have a really, really good police department that has strong community engagement. But we need to do better than we're already doing in reaching segments of our community that don't feel comfortable engaging with us in conversation."

Another resident asked about temporarily closings businesses again, including theme parks, to slow the spread of coronavirus.

Mayor Williams' noted Six Flags' detailed plan to reopen safely.

Arlington Fire Chief Don Crowson said the region's number of cases and hospitalization rates are both increasing. But the hospitalization rate hasn't gone up exponentially since businesses began reopening.

"The grocery store model taught us you could run businesses with certain precautions," Chief Crowson said. He also said the City's Fire Department is making sure safety precautions are in place and enforced.

A full recording of the meeting is embedded above and also available by clicking here.

The meeting was also simulcast in Spanish and Vietnamese. Follow the links to listen.

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This press release was produced by the City of Arlington. The views expressed here are the author’s own.