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From Uptown to Downtown, covering Chandler like the sun.
An edition of the East Valley Tribune
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This Week
NEWS................................... 3 Child drowning fears rising
BUSINESS.......................16 Experts discuss housing, office markets
SPORTS............................19
School sports get new schedule NEWS........................................ 3
BUSINESS............................... 16 SPORTS................................... 19
CLASSIFIEDS......................... 20
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August 9, 2020
First Black woman likely on Chandler Council BY KEVIN REAGAN Arizonan Staff Writer
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olitical newcomer Christine Ellis is expected to be Chandler’s first Black woman to be elected to a seat on the City Council. Unofficial results from Tuesday’s primary election show Ellis leading with 19 percent of the vote in the six-way race for three seats. Ellis is one of three candidates who appear to meet the threshold for outright claiming a council seat without needing to face a runoff election Nov. 3. The other two are Councilman Mark Stew-
art, and entrepreneur OD Harris, both of whom have earned 17 percent of the vote. The three other candidates – Rick Heumann, incumbent Councilman Jeremy McClymonds and Beth Brizel – each trailed Harris by several hundred votes, according to unofficial results. Unofficial returns showed Heumann and McClymonds with 17 percent of the vote and Brizel with 16 percent. Although the City Clerk won’t declare any winners until Maricopa County finishes tallying every vote, Ellis said she already was advised by Mayor Kevin Hartke and City Manager Marsha Reed to join the City Council.
“It’s been a wonderful race,” Ellis said the morning after Tuesday’s election. “I enjoyed every minute of it.” Ellis, who has primarily worked in the healthcare industry, said she’s proud to potentially add some diversity to the all-male council and make history by being the first Black woman elected to local office. “As a Black woman, it is very important to me,” she said. “The people of Chandler felt this is the time to make it happen.” Coy Payne was the city’s first Black resident to get elected to the council in 1983 and later served two terms as Chandler’s
see ELECTIONS page 10
Chandler Unified sets Oct. 13 for campus reopening BY KEVIN REAGAN Arizonan Staff Writer
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handler Unified School District has decided not to risk potentially exposing students to COVID-19 and is delaying the reopening of its campuses until October. Thousands of the district’s students had been expecting to return to their schools by Aug. 17, but Chandler Unified will now forgo in-person teaching until the second quarter, which starts Oct. 13. The district will wait until late September, however, before signing off on that reopening date. Superintendent Camille Casteel said the decision to delay reopening was a difficult one that she knows will surely distress many parents.
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County health department Executive Director Marcy Flanagan said reopening is not advisable. (Facebook)
“It came down to the risks for our children,” she said. The district’s Governing Board unanimously approved a resolution on Wednesday that only allows in-person instruction to resume if COVID-19 data meets specific benchmarks set by Arizona’s public health officials. Even before the state Department of Health Services released its benchmarks, the Maricopa County Public Health Department released a set of metrics to help districts decide when they can safely allow inperson teaching again. And in a press conference hours before the Chandler Unified Governing Board met,
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see SCHOOLS page 4