Mayor On Coronavirus in Huntsville - Pt. 2

Dan Shaffer has an extended conversation with Huntsville's mayor, Tommy Battle.

Topics include how the city is looking after unemployed citizens and how they're dealing with local closure protests.

>> dan shaffer: welcome back.

Thanks for joining us.

We're taking you deeper into the i'm pate of coronavirus.

And tonight we're joined by huntsville mayor tommy battle.

Unemployment, mayor battle, is on the rise.

Expected to reach the highest rates since the great depression they're saying.

1 in 5 americans could be unemployed.

How is the city of huntsville helping furloughed workers and their families?

>> mayor battle: so far we're very fortunate.

In february our unemployment numbers were 2.5%.

In march our unemployment numbers were 2-p 2.9%.

April numbers we think will jump some.

We have been working with a lot of hospitality people trying to repurpose them, repurpose them to the dpl grocery stores, to some of the big boxes.

We even had programs in the downtown area that have offered specialized jobs for those in the hospitality restaurant business who just need a paycheck to get through these times and get back to the business.

>> dan shaffer: latest available number show more than 5600 people filed for unemployment in madison county two weeks ago.

How bad do you expect things to get?

>> mayor battle: i think april is going to be our -- we're sitting here in may right now.

I think april is going to be our big lift.

May will start getting a little bit better because we've got people back to work in some of the retail areas.

Towards the mid may, if we end up opening up restaurants, things will get a little bit more towards normal by june 1st.

We'll be moving back in the recovery stage.

Hotels, motel, will start p filling up.

>> dan shaffer: people are really getting antsy and they want to see this accelerated.

A lot of protests goingen, especially in other parts of the state.

Have you felt pressured to open the businesses or, vice versa, keeping them close snd.

>> mayor battle: we have a lot of people who give their opinion to the city of huntsville.

That's part of the job, that's what you should be listening to.

A a.

Lot of people on one side who want to close everything down and other people want to open everything up.

We're probably in the right place, in the middle of that.

We are kind of in the middle of that right now.

We want to open back up but we want to open back up and protect our public.

That's the most important thing that we can do.

>> dan shaffer: a lot of conflicting information from the federal level.

What do you think from the response from the federal government thus far?

>> mayor battle: you know, i think the best thing to do is we take in the boots on the ground information.

The information we get from our local hospitals, information we get from alabama department of public health.

We're not tied to what the federal government is.

I mean, if you watch everything from all the national news to cnn to fox news, you're going to see conflicting reports on everything.

We can do best by taking the facts that we know right here, boots on the ground, that can make a difference for our area.

>> dan shaffer: when you want to know what's going on, who do you turn to for answers?

Extra points for saying waay 31 of course.

>> mayor battle: of course, waay 31.

>> dan shaffer: i like it.

Thanks, mayor.

Right after the break we'll look at vaccines and