COVID-19 update March 26, 2020
COVID-19 has taught us to “hunker down,” to “shelter in place,” all the while maintaining a six foot buffer between us. Thus it was that there were just four people in the conference room at Town Hall: myself (Angus McDonald, First Selectman), Gina Sopneski, and Videographers Margo Hillfinger and John Greene. Digitally speaking, Selectmen Duane Gates and Jim Olson and an audience of 18 or so were present via the 21st Century wizardry of “Zoom.”
Resulting from Governor Lamont’s Executive Orders we were able to hold our first remote public meetings on Tuesday evening, with both the Board of Selectmen and the Board of Finance utilizing zoom technology to “gather.” While we still have a lot to learn, the meetings took place in a manner that ensured that the public could be “present” and participate. I am hopeful that with this or similar technology all of our scheduled public meetings will be back on schedule. We do have some learning to do, please bear with our early attempts, but public participation is a cornerstone of our democratic traditions, and we will be doing our level best to ensure that despite the nature of this pandemic such participation will continue.
Scott Martinson (Director) and Sherry Carlson (Public Health Nurse) from Connecticut River Area Health District (CRAHD) briefed us on state and local response efforts, really reinforcing the advice that social distancing and staying home are the best defense we, as individuals and as a community), can utilize. CRAHD’s website is one of the places we have been recommending to obtain accurate information and advice together with those of the CT Department of Public Health and the CDC. Please visit any or all of these sites: www.crahd.org; https://portal.ct.gov/Coronavirus; and https://www.cdc.gov/
Scott, Sherry, and all the folk at CRAHD have been working tirelessly to help keep us informed and safe and their efforts are very much appreciated.
Another important discussion during the Board of Selectmen’s meeting centered on the Executive Orders that address public meetings, elections, and budget voting. The orders clearly prohibit public gatherings of over 50 people and allows for no town meetings, public votes for budgets of both school districts and municipalities. This was discussed at both BOS and BOF and no one is pleased. Be assured that we are working with communities throughout the state to determine how best to keep public participation as close to the norm as possible.
Toward that end I attended multiple meetings yesterday (remote video or teleconference), mostly focused on the new procedures and how to best serve our citizens.
Nationally there appear to be some inconsistences in the wide-ranging topics that have generated the rulings, orders and suggestions handed down from a variety of agencies and various levels of government. It does appear that the Governors have largely taken over the planning process. This makes sense to me—the individual states are far more familiar with the needs of their constituents,
The entire process has been very ad hoc; planning based on random attacks by a disease whose purpose is simply to wreak havoc on the population is scattershot at best. It should be no surprise that dealing with this strange new order should be so difficult. Public meeting procedures offer a good example.
It appears that electronically remote appearances are acceptable to determine quorums and official attendance. The procedure for recording votes, however, is more stringent: individuals must be physically present during polling. How do we conduct a meeting remotely, yet provide a mechanism for votes to be recorded in person? This is just one example of the dislocation Coronavirus has foisted on us. Government by and of the People is as basic to our country as to guard the public’s health.
We will do our best to mirror our normal process. We will have our public hearings, albeit remotely for the time being. How we vote is the bigger question and the one we are working on with communities throughout the state. We are not alone.
The economic impact of this virus is something else entirely, and that was discussed by the Governor at his news conference and immediately following in his meeting with First Selectpeople and Mayors from around the state. He announced the launch a zero-interest loan program to help Connecticut small businesses and nonprofits that have been impacted by COVID-19. Information about that and other state and federal programs for both businesses and workers follows:
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