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HomeMy WebLinkAbout07-05-20 Public Comment - J&K Allen - Covid-19 ResponseFrom:Chris Mehl To:Agenda Subject:FW: Covid-19 Response Date:Sunday, July 5, 2020 1:30:31 PM Attachments:Responding to Covid-19.docx Chris Mehl Mayor, City of Bozeman cmehl@bozeman.net 406.581.4992 ________________________________________ From: kalle2929@gmail.com [kalle2929@gmail.com] Sent: Sunday, July 05, 2020 1:25 PM To: Chris Mehl Subject: RE: Covid-19 Response Chris, Thank you so much for being responsive. We met you when you were Deputy Mayor at a neighborhood meeting of the Knolls residents. We discussed the need for water conservation and zero scape plantings. Shelly from Cashman Nursery developed our yard and we are on a mission to turn Bozeman into a water conservation community. When you have time, we would love to give you a tour of our yard's first year development, following social distancing and mask practices. But in the meantime, we are on a mission to reduce the transmission of Covid-19. Our careers spanned 40 yrs.; I was in healthcare; John was in education. We were disappointed with the wait and see approach of the Health Dept at the press conference last week, so we decided to write and letter and get involved. I have attached a copy of the letter. John & Kay Allen -----Original Message----- From: Chris Mehl <CMehl@BOZEMAN.NET> Sent: Sunday, July 5, 2020 1:13 PM To: Kathryn Allen, PhD & John Allen, PhD <kalle2929@gmail.com> Subject: RE: Covid-19 Response Thanks Allens, We should get it from staff on Monday if you sent over the weekend. This is my direct email, and all commissioners follow same first name initial/last name format if you want to send to me/us directly. I'll be happy to forward to others and staff. Chris Mehl Mayor, City of Bozeman cmehl@bozeman.net 406.581.4992 ________________________________________ From: webadmin@bozeman.net [webadmin@bozeman.net] Sent: Sunday, July 05, 2020 1:04 PM To: Chris Mehl Subject: Covid-19 Response Message submitted from the <City Of Bozeman> website. Site Visitor Name: Kathryn Allen, PhD & John Allen, PhD Site Visitor Email: kalle2929@gmail.com We sent a letter to agenda@Bozeman.net regarding Covid-19. We are hoping that it reaches you and the commission members prior to your next meeting. We attempted to send the message directly via this email but it rejected because it had too many words. Please take the time to read our message. City of Bozeman emails are subject to the Right to Know provisions of Montana’s Constitution (Art. II, Sect. 9) and may be considered a “public record” pursuant to Title 2, Chpt. 6, Montana Code Annotated. As such, this email, its sender and receiver, and the contents may be available for public disclosure and will be retained pursuant to the City’s record retention policies. Emails that contain confidential information such as information related to individual privacy may be protected from disclosure under law. We are experiencing a profound failure in national leadership. We are showing a disrespect for expertise and facts. We have a disappointing failure in our society’s ability to rise to the need to work collectively to fight the virus. Why is it that around the world, Europeans and other countries were able, as communities, to respect one another and collectively work together to dramatically slow the spread of the virus? Look at the numbers! They don’t lie. Look at what is currently happening in other states, states that have been effective and states that delayed and are now inundated with a crisis. Regardless of your political affiliation, it is reprehensible that there is even a deliberation about wearing vs. not wearing a mask in public, when lives are at stake. Over 50 countries and 10 states have mandatory face mask requirements. As citizens, we have very few tools to respond to Covid-19 – wearing masks in public, social distancing, washing our hands. We know the risks of not using these tools. Wearing masks in public decreases the potential for transmission. If wearing a mask could save even one life in the next 3 months, are you willing to disregard this? Respected medical journals are reporting evidence of mask use efficacy. Check out Lancet, Health Affairs and Clinical Infectious Diseases journals if you need further convincing. A University of Washington computer model suggests that 33,000 American lives could be saved from Covid-19 between now and October 1st if more people wore masks in public. Think about this: our selfish behavior is putting the lives of our workers at stake; we want individuals to go back to work and we want the healthcare system to be ready to care for us, but when we don’t wear masks in public, we are telling these individuals that they are discardable because we do not want to be proactive; we don’t really care about our neighbors’ or community’s well-being. Are you willing to play roulette with peoples’ lives? A July 1 article in the New York Times by Nicholas Kristof likens refusing to wear a mask to driving drunk. A mask usage mandate could also help the economy, potentially reducing the potential for a return to lockdowns. If we want an economy to get back on its feet, then we need a workforce. A workforce needs to be healthy to work. Our health is at stake! Be accountable to us. Don’t pass the buck; it stops with YOU! PLEASE PASS AN ORDINANCE REQUIRING THE WEARING OF MASKS IN PUBLIC so we can minimize the spread of Covid-19 in Bozeman and set an example for the rest of the state.