VIRGINIA COUNTY ‘OUR DARKEST HOURS’ SECOND VP CANDIDATES LAUNCHES TESTBED FOR EXPLORES COUNTY LAY OUT PRIORITIES IN 5G TECHNOLOGIES. PG. 4 COVID RESPONSE. PG. 5 PLATFORMS. PGS. 17-20 NATIONAL ASSOCIATION of COUNTIES VOL. 53, NO. 10 JUNE 14, 2021 Energy Sec. Granholm talks American Jobs Plan with counties by Charlie Ban to make sure this shift to a green senior writer economy creates good-paying union jobs, spurs economic re- Stressing jobs and clean en- vitalization and supports energy San Mateo ergy, U.S. Energy Secretary Jen- workers in coal and oil and gas County, Calif. libraries will nifer Granholm pitched the and power plant communities invest an addi- Biden Administration’s $2 bil- and environmental justice com- tional $892,000 lion American Jobs Plan June 2 munities,” she said, noting that this year in to county officials. studies indicated a $23 trillion summer pro- gramming. While the plan would usher global market for carbon capture Photo courtesy of in a transition toward renew- technologies by 2030. San Mateo County able energy sources, Granholm “The American Jobs Plan Libraries stressed in a remote meeting would turbocharge all of those with members of NACo’s Ener- efforts by making a historic in- gy, Environment and Land Use vestment in the infrastructure, Steering Committee that work- allow us to live up to our environ- County libraries bridge ers in traditional energy sectors mental justice goals,” Granholm would not only have roles in a said. new energy economy, but there “Forty percent of the benefits COVID ‘learning loss’ is tremendous economic poten- of this massive $2 trillion invest- tial in correcting environmental ment would go to communities by Rachel Looker systems are taking steps to collaboration with K-12 insti- degradation caused by fossil fu- that have either been affected staff writer combat the “summer slide” by tutions. els. by the energy transition or been providing resources and pro- “We’re hearing of learning “We want to partner with lo- living in the shadow of power While learning loss, often gramming to prevent learning loss in the base subjects of En- cal communities and counties plants, where their children have known as the “summer slide,” is loss. glish and math where students to use inhalers because they a challenge for many students In New Castle County, Del., just were not getting any sort can’t breathe.” every summer, the past year of County Executive Matt Mey- of academic attainment, not “We want those communities virtual and hybrid learning has er, a former middle school retaining much information, to feel the impact of the Ameri- created more concern in a year math teacher, proposed an in- not accelerating their reading can jobs plan which would invest following the COVID-19 pan- vestment of up to $500,000 to performance through online $78 billion in workforce develop- demic. the county council for urgent ment and training,” she noted. Counties and county library summer learning programs in See LEARNING page 2 NACo President Gary Moore said that although some minor differences existed between counties’ priorities and the pro- COUNTIES USE ARP FUNDS TO BOOST posed plan, “We see value in the American Jobs Plan, and we TOURISM AFTER BIG PANDEMIC HIT Granholm See ENERGY page 8 by Charlie Ban leaders in counties across the ty slow in Indian River County, senior writer country are hoping to make up but in July and August 2020, for lost revenue that their tour- the county saw a surprising Indian River County, Fla. ism operations, along with the number of visitors, taking their had some unexpected time in rest of the county, missed out hotel tax revenue well above the sun last year, but the tim- on during the height of the typical late-summer hauls. ing of COVID-19 pandemic pandemic and stay on their It’s a problem most counties restrictions still left the county toes bringing in new visitors faced for at least part of 2020, feeling cold. and boost their vacation bud- when, particularly during the With funding from the $61.5 gets this year. billion American Rescue Plan, Summertime is usually pret- See TOURISM page 3 2 JUNE 14, 2021 NATIONAL ASSOCIATION of COUNTIES COUNTY NEWS Counties stepping up programs for at-risk kids to prevent ‘summer slide’ From LEARNING page 1 she said. The library expanded its Big learning,” he said. Lift Inspiring Summers Pro- The proposal includes a col- gram, usually held as a four- laboration with the Red Clay week camp, to five weeks, Freedom School, which pro- holding ratios down for more vides summer and after-school personalized attention be- enrichment to support K-12 tween adults and youth. students, and Reading Assist, This year, Risley said they will which provides intensive ser- serve 1,100 kids in the summer, vices for at-risk children facing a bump from previous years reading challenges, as the first due to more interest in enroll- organizations to receive fund- ments. ing from the county. “There’s more need than we “As a former math teacher, are serving this summer for I know we’d always say, ‘you sure,” she said. learn to read and then you read “There’s a lot of demand.” to learn,’” Meyer said. The camp supports youth in New Castle County previous- the seven highest need districts ly launched a website for coun- with youth who aren’t reading ty residents to contribute ideas on grade level by third grade. on where to invest American A child browses for books in a San Mateo County, Calif. library where the board approved an invest- San Mateo County Libraries Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds ment of nearly $900,000 to support summer programming this year. Photo courtesy of San Mateo County Libraries will also be holding youth-on- throughout the county, which learning environment, he said support their efforts to address ly days three times per week led to the formation of five task areas with high poverty rates COVID-19-related learning “We really felt throughout the summer using force committees to make rec- are seeing significant learning loss and we did it as a matter of the curriculum from the Big ommendations, one focused loss. urgency,” he said. compelled to make Lift program. on early education. “There are really some ur- County libraries are also this investment in Additionally, the libraries “We’ve got to make sure that gent issues in terms of learn- stepping up to provide sum- our youth and sum- will be offering more interac- resources are not the problem,” ing loss both this summer and mer programming with en- tive materials and experiences Meyer said. this fall and so we wanted to hanced schedules of events to mer programming for families who want to work While some students ben- make sure we partnered with keep children reading during to help ease the with children at home. efited from a hybrid or online all of our public schools to the summer. “Many people want to limit Houston County, Ga. Public transition back to the number of in-person ex- Library System Director J. Sara in-person periences they’re having this Paulk said the library is getting education.” summer, but we want to pro- back to holding more program- vide those quality enrichments ming events that she hopes - Reuben Holober and make sure people have the 2021 serve as a return to in-person tools and the resources to do learning this fall. hands-on, project-based learn- HURRICANE “We’re gearing up a little bit exacerbated because of the ing,” Risley said. SEASON stronger and heavier this sum- pandemic. To expand the reach of li- mer and we’re getting a lot of “We really felt compelled to brary programming this sum- OUTLOOK good turnout,” she said. make this investment in our mer, county libraries will be San Mateo County, Calif. Li- youth and summer program- working with the parks and braries launched new summer ming to help ease the transi- recreation department to pro- learning opportunities to help tion back to in-person educa- vide library materials and fur- students overcome challenges tion,” he said. ther enrich the youth experi- from the past year with the Li- Deputy Director of Library ence. brary’s Joint Power Authority Services Carine Risley said the “I think if this is a program (JPA) Board approving nearly library developed and expand- that is successful, that alleviates Named Storms: ..... 13-20 (winds 39 MPH or higher) $900,000 in funding to support ed upon already-existing pro- some of the summer learning Hurricanes: ............ 6-10 (winds 74 MPH or higher) programming this summer. gramming for the summer. loss and provides a nourishing, Major Hurricanes: ... 3-5 (winds 111 MPH or higher) Library JPA Governing Board “Staff worked really hard to enriching experience for the Chair Reuben Holober said focus on some strategies that kids and their families, then I Source: NOAA Climate Prediction Center summer learning loss is a con- we felt would be most effective think that would certainly be a cern every year but has been and beneficial this summer,” success,” Holober said. 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