Arizona’s First ‘Chief Heat Officer’ Avoiding The Press
By Staff Reporter |
Not all kinds of heat are equal: apparently, Arizona’s first “Chief Heat Officer” has been avoiding any heat from the media.
It was discovered by ABC15 reporter Nicole Grigg that inaugural Chief Heat Officer Eugene Livar, appointed in April, has repeatedly avoided interviews with the media and instead opted to answer the questions on his own time, without direct media scrutiny or feedback, through his vlog, “What’s Hot with Heat.”
Per Arizona Department of Health Services’ (ADHS) media relations, they will direct reporters to sift through Livar’s vlogs to receive answers to their questions, should he have addressed them.
Media Relations Director Niala Charles told Grigg in an email this week that Livar’s vlog satisfactorily accomplishes the duty of keeping the public informed, citing the vlog’s “77,000 subscribers” and “high click rate,” which Charles described as “impressive.”
Arizona’s population sits at over 7.1 million souls.
Prior to becoming the state’s first chief heat officer, Livar had worked in various roles for ADHS for over a decade. In his last role as ADHS assistant director, Livar had a salary of over $148,000.
This latest job title was concocted through Governor Katie Hobbs’ Extreme Heat Preparedness Plan, which he helped develop. Livar’s job also includes executing those aspects of the plan. Hobbs’ plan heavily focuses on addressing homelessness, namely heat respite resources and housing for them, and establishing more clean energy.
A big push for Hobbs’ plan, and a goal of her administration, is to convince the federal government to declare heat as an emergency in order to unlock more federal funding.
Livar’s team has issued two vlogs, the first appearing last month. Both vlogs repeated similar advice on watching out for heat-related illnesses and staying hydrated, and avoiding heat-induced car breakdowns by performing regular maintenance.
The third vlog is scheduled for release next Wednesday.
The first vlog, eight minutes, focused on an overview of his office’s duties and the resources the state and local government offer for heat relief.
“Be sure you stay cool, stay hydrated, stay informed, and be sun-wise,” said Livar in one vlog. “We know if we lean on each other, we can make it through each heat season and come out better every year.”
The second vlog issued earlier this month, four minutes, had Livar recommending municipalities adopt more public advisories on the heat, and expanding offerings of cooling and hydrating stations.
The ADHS heat-focused vlogs are promised to be posted on a bimonthly basis. Rather than relying on closed captioning, ADHS opted to bring in a sign language interpreter for the vlogs.
In addition to vlogging, Livar has been blogging about heat-related topics. Most recently, Livar wrote up general advice on proper hydration, signs of dehydration, and resources for sourcing local cooling and hydration centers.
Other blogs by Livar address various other, non-heat-related health topics, like HIV testing and regulation of marijuana kitchens.
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