Latest / Arizona Unscripted / Episode 16: 🌵 Arizona Unscripted - Let's chat with Danielle "Dani" Sterbinsky!!
Transcript
- Arizona Unscripted: Yeah. Welcome to Arizona Unscripted. I'm your host, Bart, alongside my wonderful co-hosts, Jim and Catherine today. And from time to time, we'll be joined by special pop-in guests from communities all across the Grand Canyon State. And for those who haven't been on our podcast or listened to our podcast before, we're all about Arizona. It's people, places, events, and local issues that shape our everyday lives. From small towns to big cities, from hidden gems and great local food. Of course, I love the local food. Culture and the challenges facing our communities. We're here to have a real conversation with real Arizonans. Our goal is simple to celebrate what makes Arizona unique while bringing together voices from every corner of our state. So whether you're a lifelong resident, a newcomer, or just someone who loves Arizona, we hope you'll feel right at home. So so sit back, grab a cup of coffee or something cool, and join us as we explore the people, places and stories that make Arizona one the best states in America. With that, I'm gonna pass it over to my wonderful co-host Catherine. Hey Bart, how are you doing today? It's so great to be here. Doing good. Doing really good. Thanks. Yeah. I love the photo behind you of all of the the beauty of our Grand Canyon state. It just is beautiful. And we have Jim with us today as well. Jim. Hi everybody. He's got me he's got me thinking homebrewing from our last episode. I just made a new bet. None of the NA, though, right, Jim? No. Non-alcohol. Yeah. Well, we have a very special guest with us today, whom I'd like to introduce. My friend Danny Strabinsky, and her manager, Wendy Garcia, is with us today. Wendy is a candidate. She is running for House representative to Congress for Arizona Legislative District thirty. Yay, yeah. And Congressional District. Yeah, congressional district. You're right. ⁓ so Danny is a Navy veteran. She's a working mom. She's not a career politician. Suddenly I feel very inadequate in my words. Met her a few times before and she's just a super gal. And we really appreciate you being on the show today, Danny. Thank you so much for having me, Catherine. I can't, you know, at since Bart's intro, I'm just like, ⁓ local food, local food. That could be a whole episode, some some other time for us to talk about. But I really do appreciate you guys having me on. As Catherine mentioned, my name is Danny Strabenski. I'm a Navy veteran, a working mom, and the Democratic nominee for Arizona, Arizona's ninth congressional district. Fantastic. So, you know. Danny, we've been talking on this show about road trips because we're all really loving road trips. It's summertime that time of the year. And ⁓ we've talked a lot about road trips ⁓ around the state of Arizona. And I think you've kind of been making a road trip, going around, talking to constituents. And one of the things that we would like to hear from you is what are you hearing from people out there? What what are their what are their issues and What what's it like being out on the road talking to people here in Arizona? Arizona's ninth congressional district is one of the largest in the nation. So every time we go out to either Yuma, La Paz, or Mojave County, it's a road trip for me here in the West Valley of Maricopa. What I'm hearing all across our district is families are concerned about housing, groceries, child care, and health care. ⁓ our Arizona's ninth congressional district. Has a large 55 plus community. So there's many seniors worrying about their retirement income not keeping up with the rising cost. And you know, we've got veterans in Mojave County that are facing long drives, delays, and gaps in health care and mental health services. So that's a little, it's it's a little different depending on where you go in the valley or in Arizona's 9th district. ⁓ but that I would say are the top three things I'm hearing all over the place. ⁓ that's okay. Okay. Yeah. So What are some of the solutions that you have come up with, Danny, for some of these problems? Yeah, that's a great question. Well, I do want to highlight that housing is the biggest issue for most families here in Arizona's 9th district. ⁓ Congress just passed a bipartisan bill, the 21st Century Road to Housing Act. And I think that that will do a lot of great things. ⁓ it will stop corporate speculation. It will allow more families of incentivize local municipalities to build starter homes, workforce housing. And it does a lot to help in that regard. I think where we can do more that that what that bill is missing is tenant protections allowing or stopping landlords from denying Section 8 housing vouchers. And with that bill, the most important thing I would highlight for Congress to do is to actually fund that bill. Because right now it's just passed. Later down the line they will have votes on appropriations and we need to ensure that we have representatives who are going to fund housing because so many families in Arizona and across our nation are struggling to keep a roof over their head right now. Yeah. I mean we've done ⁓ you know, we talked about housing a little bit on the show and it's been it's I mean I mean, if you have a house, things are all good. If you're kind of in between, you maybe you're maybe you're a nurse ⁓ you know, somebody who makes ⁓ who's kind of under the limit of or over the limit of ⁓ maybe ⁓ affordable housing but or you know, that kind of housing, but or all the way up to the super wealthy housing, ⁓ you're kinda stuck, right? I mean where the families especially, especially young families, they're really stuck. So I'm it's super exciting we passed the bill. Yeah, we need funding though. So we do need funding. I'm glad that you brought up families struggling to buy their first home though. ⁓ You know, I'm a millennial, so my generation on average, we're buying our first home at 40. Our parents are buying their first 40. 40 because of the housing market, how unaffordable it is for us to get into a home. ⁓ and a lot of that is just coming across challenges having that down payment. So, how can we help families with that down payment, whether it be first-time home buyer grants or tax deductions so we can get these families in the market in the first place and get them out from being a renter. Yeah, because once they're in the market, then everybody moves up. Everything goes up. People get in their first home and then they that's what we did. When my you was younger, I got my first home and sure enough, we're able to get the second home and you know, the usual thing, right? And it's it's super cool. Tell tell me a little bit about your first home, Bart. My first home? Well, I was just a little home and it was barely afforded. I was an engineer for this company. ⁓ and it was like, okay, I I we can barely afford this thing. And now it's like super cheap relative would have been super super cheap relative to the market now. But I'll tell you, there was a program for like first time financing and it was amazing. And kind of like what this bill I believe is is helping out with, because without that first time financing, I don't think we could have made it. Yeah. We had we had to really go after it. Yeah, it was it was good. It sounds like a perfect starter home, which I don't think we're building enough starter, true starter homes these days. So we need to have more of that. ⁓ but I love that you brought up the down payment assistant. ⁓ for me personally, I wouldn't have been able to purchase my home in Arizona's ninth district without without being a veteran, without having the VA ⁓ assistance that they have for down payments. It's amazing. And being a veteran, and by the way, thank you for being a veteran. ⁓ thank you for your support. We've had some veterans on this for veterans. And and the and the VA is the only way we were able to buy our house. That's awesome. My dad was a my dad was a captain in the Air Force. He was a ⁓ amazing guy, veteran. I mean, and my grandpa I mean whole family in general. Lots lots of my family members. So it's always a always an honor to be with the veteran. ⁓ and we've actually spotlighted We've actually spotlighted some veterans on the show just the last few episodes. ⁓ so it's been really fun and enjoyable being with them. I think the last time I saw Catherine was on Veterans Day in the College for a different radio show that ⁓ she was helping out with and did an excellent job. Well, thank you. And thank you for coming down. I think you came down twice for that radio show. Yeah, I have. I've been on or up, I should say. Is it up or down? Is it Well from what where do you live, Danny? I live in Whitman. So it's it's up slightly. I'm not sure where I was looking at a map behind me. I've got ⁓ right outside of it's in the West Valley, like right outside of Surprise, Arizona. So yeah. I'm still kind of rural though, you know, not a lot going on out here right now. Boy, I'll tell you about rural. I, you know, living in Lake Cavas City, I always think I'm rural, right? ⁓ however, all you gotta do is go to like Meadview or Dolan Springs. Have you been up there, Danny? To Dolan Springs, I have not. And dolence rings, that's rural. They're an hour and a half from a hospital. And their ambulance is two hours away. So I mean, if they called an ambulance, it would be three and a half hours at best for them to get to a hospital. So so you mentioned healthcare, Danny. What what ⁓ what do you think we can do about the situation with health care that we're having right now? Yeah, great question. ⁓ first and forest. Foremost, I think we need to bring back the subsidies for the ACA ⁓ when they expired last in last year at the end of December when they expired. A lot of people were priced out of healthcare. Approximately 20 million Americans were priced out of healthcare when those subsidies expired. So we should bring those back. I would also like to, I fundamentally believe healthcare is a human right, but I'm willing to meet in the middle. So Let's bring a public option. Let's offer a public option to those who want it so that they can have health care that they can afford and we can expand coverage, offer more preventive preventive services, mental health services. And in the long run, those preventive that preventive care will save us money. It's not about whether or not we can invest in it. Can we do we have the money for this right now? It's more of a question of what will that inaction cost us? Right. It's all about keeping the population healthy lowers all of our costs, basically. That's the whole thing. If they have to go in an emergency situation, it's always more exp way more expensive. More expensive for you and then more expensive for everyone else too. Yeah. We want to save costs. We want to be efficient. Efficient, but yet but help people as well, be able to help. Yeah. ⁓ I go ahead, Catherine. I was just gonna say what happens when people so I worked in healthcare for forty five years. What happens when people don't have health insurance is they end up just using the emergency room as their family doctor. And so they go into the emergency room, they wait and let everything build up and build up. And then they get into the emergency room. And yes, it's extremely expensive once you get in there. If that's all you go to the go there once a year or whatever when you have a problem, it's super expensive. So healthcare is really one of my big issues that I I I like what you say. Let's let's put those subsidies back in place. Yeah, absolutely. We need to do that. And we also need to handle or ⁓ ensure that the pharmacy benefit managers and those middlemen are responsible when they raise prescription cost or the administrative cost that may they may be charging us too too much for administrative cost. ⁓ so we need to hold them accountable when they're making money off of our health care. Right. Right. ⁓ you said that. Dolan Springs, the closest hospital was about, you know, it's gonna take them like an hour and a half to get there. Gosh, no. what about in Mojave, like Lake Havasu, where you are? how how close is your nearest hospital? We have ⁓ Havasu Regional Medical Center. That's where I actually worked there for 17 years. ⁓ and I don't think it's at risk of closing right now, but I do know a lot of the rural hospitals. are at risk of closing and I know Casa Grand Hospital closed their OB unit. ⁓ so those women now have an hour and a half drive to an O B unit down in Casa Grand. So I think I'm I'm just hoping we don't see the domino effect and that one closed. I don't want to see rural hospitals closing. And again we're not exactly rural and yet we are here. We're certainly not Maricopa. We're not the great state of Maricopa So ⁓ but we have a hospital here. There's a hospital in Bullhead City, there's a hospital in Kingman. So if you live near one of our more populated areas, you're okay. But the other issue is ⁓ getting appointments with doctors. It's becoming difficult to there's usually a a three or four month wait for an appointment with a doctor. So and that's really ⁓ being exacerbated here in rural. Because we just don't have the numbers of doctors that we need. That was gonna be my next question about hospital closures, because I know that since those ⁓ you know, Medicaid has had some funds taken away and the ACA subsidies expired, a lot of hospitals have closed. And that two hour hospital ER or ambulance ride that you mentioned, you know, those minutes are Crucial. They could be life or death moments, literally. Some of those may not be able to make it, right? May not make it in time. I especially for an OB ward. I mean, we already have a higher than average. I I believe I haven't looked at the statistics, but I know maternal mortality rates here in the US have been a large topic of conversation, especially with minority groups right now. So I would want to look at the stats before speaking to that directly. ⁓ but we already have a problem with maternal deaths. And an hour and a half from your closest OB hospital is a problem. Indeed. You mentioned, you mentioned, I I want to circle back though. You mentioned the great state of Maricopa County. I do live in Maricopa County, but I wanna highlight that Arizona's ninth congressional district just has a small portion of Maricopa. I'm kind of on the edge of it. And it's very important to note that rural America is the heart of America and that Mojave isn't an afterthought for me in Arizona's 9th district, that it really is central to the district. And it's going to be treated like that's such when I take office. That's great to hear. That's great to hear, Danny. And and you probably are well aware that many folks in Mojave County, ⁓ certainly like up by Colorado City and ⁓ that area above the Grand Canyon. They really do feel neglected when it comes to government officials visiting them and services. So it's really great to hear that ⁓ rural is is going to be a focus for you because I think that's probably what most of C D nine is, isn't it? A hundred percent. There's just mar a l a small portion of Maricopa County and the rest of it. And that's why it takes so long for me to drive all around this district is because it's just vast desert until you get to Kingman, Lake Havasu, or Yuma. Yeah. Although we're all tied together by this by you know, whether we're rural or or you know, in in the city, we're all kind of tied together by all these issues, right? Whether it's driving, whether it's hospitals. I mean, yeah, y maybe I may be close, but that doesn't mean that it won't be an issue if they cut cutting funds or whatever to the hospital and make it hard to hard to even get to or they the doctors can't see me for months. I mean you're like, wow. So we have a hospital here in Bullhead City that they're threatening to close and it's brand new. ⁓ no. They just built it a couple of years ago. So what's going on, Jim t to tell what's happening there? They are they like is a serious threat or is it like one of these things they're just They're just talking about it. They haven't done it yet, but Okay. Are you talking about Western Arizona Regional Medical Center? No, there's one ⁓ s exceptional ⁓ regional, is it? ⁓ I think I remember seeing it. I just saw ⁓ sorry, Jim, I didn't mean to interrupt you. My wife worked at a hospital over in Kingman, and when they first started up. ⁓ ⁓ they hired all these people, brought ⁓ all in and then all of a sudden they shut it down and they haven't opened it back up since then. That was a brand new hospital too. Yeah. That was I think it has more to do with ⁓ finances than anything. These ⁓ people get grants to build these hospitals and then they build ⁓ and they they shut ⁓ down, you know, they got their money out of it. It didn't help the community any. Yeah. Well, healthcare, rural healthcare is definitely a big issue, Danny, and I'm and we're really glad that it's something that you're focused on and rural needs in general. we're we're kind of coming to the end of our time here, but Danny, I I did want to mention for those of you who are in Mojave County, Danny is going to be here on August fifteenth for a meet and greet up in ⁓ Kingman. You want to talk about that just a little bit? And I and I and you're gonna be at Rural Rising that day too, right? Yeah, we have a few stops on the calendar that day. I'm very looking forward to an ice cream social. I think that is in King then, ⁓ to escape the heat for a little bit. But really, we are going there to listen to veterans, to families, healthcare professionals, and local leaders and residents because we want to identify the gaps that exist in healthcare, mental health, transportation, housing. and federal programs in rural Arizona because I've been traveling around all the district ⁓ the entire district, every nook and cranny, but I do live in Maricopa. So my perspective will be different. And I think it's important to listen and share that perspective with Washington. Yeah. It sounds like you're you you're you're a go getter and get it done. That's the what Yeah, absolutely. Well, you know, I just I I'm just going there to listen to make sure that our experiences shape what we fight for. Veteran mom And there's probably a whole slew of things in the background you you can do is you do as well. So there's probably all kinds of hobbies and other things you Yeah, yeah. I've I've I've worn a lot of hats. Bart I've worn a lot of hats. So we gotta have you back. We gotta have you back. One thing those hats have all had in common, I would love to highlight, is regardless of whatever hat I've worn, it's always been in service, whether that's being a hairdresser, a a sailor, a bartender, or working what's your favorite drink? What was your favorite drinking? ⁓ well I was a Sommelier. ⁓ I I I did I didn't make lots of cocktails, but ⁓ I I mostly curated a wine list and served that to paper. Have you seen Drops of God? Have you seen Drops of God? ⁓ yes, that was a remarkable television draw. Watch the second Yeah, for those that have ⁓ my god, if you haven't seen that show, people go look at that show. It's it's a very short series by Apple. And ⁓ what I love is I won't I won't spoil it, but I love is the somulas were so good that ⁓ yes, that is the fourth vineyard over the third plant by the left. Yeah, I'm not ⁓ wine tasting is is ⁓ a science and an art that has to be mastered after long many hours of studying. But I you know the season one came out before this race was launched, so I haven't had the time to watch season two yet, but I I I won't spoil it for everyone. It's really good and you can learn some stuff about wine, so you can share that with your friends and they'll think you're like very knowledgeable as you swirl your glass and talk about. We must have a wine tasting now with Danny. I would love to go. Because we've got T12 home brews and and wine we could do. Well Danny, thank you so much for coming on the show today. We are we are so grateful for you taking the time to join us. And if we if we have time, we'd love to have you come back another time and talk to us about it. We wish you the best of luck, Danny. Thank you. It was really great being with all of you. It was nice to meet you. Carol, Jim, Bart. I saw Joan pop in. So hello, Joan. Good to see you. And I hope I hope to stumble ⁓ absolutely I hope to see you in person soon. thank you all for having me. It was great to see you and I'll see you again some other time. Bye. We're all pulling for you. Thank you. Appreciate it, Jim.