On Thursday, Governor Katie Hobbs’ appointee to be Director for the Arizona Department of Health Services, Dr. Theresa Cullen, claimed that racism is a public health crisis.
Cullen made the comment in response to a question posed by Sen. Jake Hoffman, chair of the Arizona Senate Director Nomination Committee, following a discussion in which she stated that she did not know if school closures were misguided.
Cullen also admitted to making the recommendations to impose draconian measures in Pima County during the Covid pandemic.
Cullen’s nomination hearing drew angry residents from across the state and those in Pima County who were most affected by her decisions, which were based on her experiences with the Ebola epidemic in Africa.
Those draconian measures included the creation of the “Wall of Shame,” a website where members of the public could report small businesses they felt were not following Cullen’s draconian measures closely enough.
The “Wall of Shame” created such acrimony in the county, that when one small business owner read members of the Pima County Board of Supervisors the profanity and hate-filled messages he received from readers of the wall, he was arrested.
Pima County Business Owner Handcuffed, Escorted Out Of Supervisors Meeting
Cullen acknowledged under questioning that the website had “little purpose.
Another lie at the dias. This is unacceptable. https://t.co/qUX4LzR79R
— Warren Petersen (@votewarren) February 10, 2023
Among the most unusual of Cullen’s recommendations implemented by the Pima County Health Department was a 10:00 p.m. – 5:00 a.m. curfew.
A Pima County Superior Court judge ruled that Cullen’s curfew, approved by the Pima County Board of Supervisors, violated state law.
When asked about the curfews by Hoffman, Dr. Cullen could not recall 50 percent of them:
Cullen was, and remains a staunch supporter of vaccine mandates and school closures.
Cullen’s nomination failed to receive a recommendation from the committee in a 3-2 party line vote.