In the interest of keeping folks appraised of significant Council meeting event I am posting this portion of the 11/18 Council meeting and leaving it here with minimal comment.
At the 11/18 Council Meeting there was some heated exchange on personal mask use… see for yourself below (as excerpted from the full ICRC recording)
Spoiler – immediately following the very next Council meeting (on 12/2) I was notified that through the Health Department – contact tracing – that I now should quarantine due to extended close contact with a person who tested positive for COVID-19 from the City Council meeting (and I suspect the rest of the City Council and many in Administration was also asked to quarantine as well since we were all in the same room).
I never really understood why or how personal mask use became so politically charged. Obviously based on the reaction in the meeting there are some deeply held feelings. Based on the advice I had received in advance – and due to the fact we were indoors, not maintaining 6 feet distances, and several members in the chambers were not wearing masks I chose to speak slowly and loudly, being careful to enunciate rather than lower my mask during the meeting.
Keep in mind throughout the meeting we were able to carry on conversations normally (as you can probably pick up from the sound in the recording in the excerpts as well as the other 1+ hour of discussion in the full meeting…)
Then a bit later in the meeting under “Old Business” I felt I needed to address it further. See for yourself:
Maybe it would not have made a difference and we would all still be in quarantine, but I for one find the evidence from the CDC and local health departments compelling and will continue to wear my mask in these setting – and encourage everyone else to do so as well.
(* Mask picture from the Springdale Health Department)
What do you think? Let your elected officials know!
email and phone numbers of all your City Council members are online – https://www.springdale.org/city-council/page/meet-your-city-council
and
City Administration as well –
https://www.springdale.org/mayor-clerk-council
or
Connect with your Neighbors –
https://www.facebook.com/groups/333111242219243
Related Links
Note – on July 31, 2023 Springdale released a new website and previous links were not maintained as well as many minutes and agendas offline.
Past Minutes and Agendas: https://www.springdale.org/meetings/recent
Upcoming meetings: https://www.springdale.org/meetings
Request Public Records: https://www.springdale.org/living-springdale/page/public-records-access