One might expect local public health officials to update City Council on the emergency, identify areas needing improvement and seeking support and resources from Council to do so. That did not happen on 7-21 and has not occurred since cases have gotten out of control.
Mayor Brenda Gunter and Local Health Authority Dr. James Vretis have been front and center in tackling our local health emergency. Months ago City Attorney Theresa James indicated she was doing contact tracing. Cases have since soared.
The city has gone to having people with positive tests submit a form to be released from their caseload. In a recent interview Dr. Vretis indicated some citizens are not taking their situation seriously.
I submitted public comment for the last Council meeting requesting city staff update City Council on our local outbreak. Only one member spoke after public comments, Councilperson Billie DeWitt, Mrs. DeWitt complimented the Mayor on her hard work. No other Council member spoke on the public health crisis facing our community, which was not on their agenda.
Consider how the number of people in the hospital on a daily basis rose over the last month.
Mayor Gunter shared many concerning statistics. Yet at the end of the meeting no Council member asked for an update from city staff on our health emergency when planning their next meeting.
Broken sewer lines got more attention from Council. The Mayor is swimming upstream on this crisis. As most Council members have held their tongue it is hard to know if they are fouling the water.
Two out of seven council members, 28%, have been vocal on a huge problem the city is charged with addressing. Ironically, the positive test result rate for the last three weeks is almost 28%. Both numbers show San Angelo has a long way to go.
No comments:
Post a Comment