Fairhope, Alabama
Updated to include mayor's comments and audio tape of the meeting.
SPECIAL TELECONFERENCE C-VIRUS MEETING
According to council president Burrell's account.
Mayor Wilson gave opening arguments:
(Audio tape of the meeting at bottom.)
Burrell added later: "There is no clear best answer. A curfew may do no harm, and it may do no good. To really enforce a curfew, do you endanger the officers to bust up a few kids that are simply standing too close together? We could err on the side of caution and pass, but a curfew should have real teeth in times of social unrest, and the police did not give me compelling evidence to support the need for a curfew. It’s a tough choice!"
Mayor Wilson commented too later:
"During this pandemic, the State made accommodations to the open meeting act to enable council to hold a virtual meeting as long as it was specific to Covid-19. I agree that this is not ideal, and no one wants to feel as if there are secret meetings happening behind closed doors. Please know that this is not the case. The meeting was advertised, and the call was recorded conference call is in the link below. I’ve asked IT for all future meetings, even if it is a virtual call, to recorded in addition to posting live. The first coronavirus case in Alabama was reported on March 13. There has been a total of 2,152 cases reported and 59 deaths. Baldwin County has 42 confirmed cases and 1 death reported. When the State was reporting this number, it only took three weeks to become over 2k confirmed cases. I’m proud of Fairhope citizens who’ve predominately been extremely responsible and proactive during this time. We had a very good discussion tonight and this will continue. Luckily, we can look to cities that are weeks ahead of us in the process to better respond.
A curfew is a discussion our Covid-19 team, who meets each morning virtually, have been discussing for a week, assuming it would be a decision needed before a shelter-in-place. In Alabama, almost every day another city is instituting a curfew - some earlier than the one I proposed which was 10pm – 5am. It would be easier to manage if the County would do this as a whole but there are many very small towns in the County that may not have arising concerns yet. Prattville, Tuscaloosa, Mobile, Huntsville, Montgomery County, Greenville, Georgiana, Hayneville, Selma, Tallassee, Tuskegee, Oxford, Saraland, Eufaula, Opelika, Springville, Alexander City, Dadeville, Geneva City and more have already put a curfew in place.
Will a curfew help? I don’t know. I don’t think it will hurt. The City of Fairhope has been aggressive in our decision-making from the beginning. We were the first to cancel a major event in Baldwin County (Arts & Crafts Festival) and there’s no question, this was the right decision. For now, Council turned the curfew down 4-1 (Councilman Conyers was in favor). I thanked Council for discussing the topic and we will continue to monitor and review. If you are a parent, I encourage you to please keep your kids home between 10pm and 5am.
We’re all in this together. The curfew would not affect those who must work or who are seeking medical attention. As far as leaving for essentials, all grocery stores and pharmacies close at 9pm or before.
Piggly Wiggly: closes at 9p
Greer’s: closes at 8p
Publix: closes at 8p
Wal-Mart: closes at 8:30p
Walgreens: closes at 9p
CVS: closes at 9p
I’m grateful for our community. The only decisions made in Fairhope regarding Covid-19 have been and will be out of an abundance of precaution to keep citizens and city employees safe. It’s time to come together as a community, work together as a community, take the pandemic seriously, and each of us do all we can to protect others. Stay home - Save lives - Set an example."
Updated to include mayor's comments and audio tape of the meeting.
SPECIAL TELECONFERENCE C-VIRUS MEETING
According to council president Burrell's account.
Mayor Wilson gave opening arguments:
- Chief Hollinghead provided input
- Council conveyed their thoughts
- Council, Mayor, and Chief of Police engaged in discussions.
- We had 35 minutes of discussion in all. We introduced the ordinance, voted 5-0 for immediate consideration, then voted on final adoption. Final vote was 4-1 against adoption. Councilman Conyers was the “Yes” vote. We then adjourned.
(Audio tape of the meeting at bottom.)
Burrell added later: "There is no clear best answer. A curfew may do no harm, and it may do no good. To really enforce a curfew, do you endanger the officers to bust up a few kids that are simply standing too close together? We could err on the side of caution and pass, but a curfew should have real teeth in times of social unrest, and the police did not give me compelling evidence to support the need for a curfew. It’s a tough choice!"
Mayor Wilson commented too later:
"During this pandemic, the State made accommodations to the open meeting act to enable council to hold a virtual meeting as long as it was specific to Covid-19. I agree that this is not ideal, and no one wants to feel as if there are secret meetings happening behind closed doors. Please know that this is not the case. The meeting was advertised, and the call was recorded conference call is in the link below. I’ve asked IT for all future meetings, even if it is a virtual call, to recorded in addition to posting live. The first coronavirus case in Alabama was reported on March 13. There has been a total of 2,152 cases reported and 59 deaths. Baldwin County has 42 confirmed cases and 1 death reported. When the State was reporting this number, it only took three weeks to become over 2k confirmed cases. I’m proud of Fairhope citizens who’ve predominately been extremely responsible and proactive during this time. We had a very good discussion tonight and this will continue. Luckily, we can look to cities that are weeks ahead of us in the process to better respond.
A curfew is a discussion our Covid-19 team, who meets each morning virtually, have been discussing for a week, assuming it would be a decision needed before a shelter-in-place. In Alabama, almost every day another city is instituting a curfew - some earlier than the one I proposed which was 10pm – 5am. It would be easier to manage if the County would do this as a whole but there are many very small towns in the County that may not have arising concerns yet. Prattville, Tuscaloosa, Mobile, Huntsville, Montgomery County, Greenville, Georgiana, Hayneville, Selma, Tallassee, Tuskegee, Oxford, Saraland, Eufaula, Opelika, Springville, Alexander City, Dadeville, Geneva City and more have already put a curfew in place.
Will a curfew help? I don’t know. I don’t think it will hurt. The City of Fairhope has been aggressive in our decision-making from the beginning. We were the first to cancel a major event in Baldwin County (Arts & Crafts Festival) and there’s no question, this was the right decision. For now, Council turned the curfew down 4-1 (Councilman Conyers was in favor). I thanked Council for discussing the topic and we will continue to monitor and review. If you are a parent, I encourage you to please keep your kids home between 10pm and 5am.
We’re all in this together. The curfew would not affect those who must work or who are seeking medical attention. As far as leaving for essentials, all grocery stores and pharmacies close at 9pm or before.
Piggly Wiggly: closes at 9p
Greer’s: closes at 8p
Publix: closes at 8p
Wal-Mart: closes at 8:30p
Walgreens: closes at 9p
CVS: closes at 9p
I’m grateful for our community. The only decisions made in Fairhope regarding Covid-19 have been and will be out of an abundance of precaution to keep citizens and city employees safe. It’s time to come together as a community, work together as a community, take the pandemic seriously, and each of us do all we can to protect others. Stay home - Save lives - Set an example."
Comments
These would be good ideas, worthy of further consideration.