Emerge Stronger
Weekly update 3/22 to 3/28 #9
“Adopt the pace of nature: her secret is patience.” ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson
This week I saw reminders that the world goes on even as it stands still. Monday, I came into a box of Laura Jo’s cookies. Thank you Craig for the sunshine cookies.
I spent time with WPC replacing Ultra Violet banks. These banks have to be up and running come April 1. Over the winter the bulbs were replaced. After convincing myself that “it is just algae,” I pressure washed the channels they are placed in. I had to laugh because I have spent my entire life working with my hands and yet it seems to shock people when I jump in and help get things done. I don’t believe I slowed them down, and we did get all 40 panels placed and ready to test before I had to head back to City Hall.
As Executive order 20-08 was handed down from Governor Holcomb, the stress level and anxiety went up. They went up for everyone in the state. As we adapt to the current norm remember that we are all in this together. Business owners talk to your landlords and see if they will work with you. Everyone think of your friends who are business owners and see if you can prepay for an item to pick up when they get reopened. See about scheduling a haircut after the shutdown or go ahead and plan to get the dog groomed. Many area agencies are stepping up to help where they can. If you are without a paycheck at this time and need help, call 211 to see if they can find the help you need. This week I also saw the Chamber step up and help launch a Business Economic Recovery Team (BERT); we will see many resources become available to help and having a BERT is a great way to establish best practices and help the most people possible. Shutting down is new to us here in Indiana, but other states deal with shutdowns for natural disasters like hurricanes and fires every year. Many of those areas already have BERTs in place and from here forward we will also. Thank you to those that have really started to shine during this gloomy time in our history. I will not forget you or your efforts to help your fellow community members.
Now this week also saw a start to pothole repair season for DPW. Trash and recyclables still had to be picked up. I am sure many of you appreciate that we are continuing to keep the toilets flushing and to stay in regulations with our treatment plant. I know it isn’t easy to be shut down. I know my kids hate that I won’t let them spend the night with friends. I encourage you to adopt the pace of nature and stay to your immediate family if at all possible. Patience is the key, and if we are truly going to flatten the curve of COVID-19, we have to make some sacrifices at this time. We will survive this and thrive on the other side. Be safe, keep your distance, be kind, support your friends, and remember that we can’t control others, but we can control how we react in a time of crisis.
At the end of today March 24 2020, the State of Indiana Executive Order 20-08 “Directive for Hoosiers to Stay at Home” will be enacted. I have spent the last day reading this order over and over again. While I enjoy the interpretations of all the legal experts here on social media, I have to rely on what is in black and white in the order. Seymour, and many others, have shared the information in the Cliffsnotes version as well as links to the entire order. Today we have fielded many calls and emails in relation to what we see in the order. What it really breaks down to is essential and non-essential businesses. I am not here to question which is which. I am here though to remind you the citizens of our great community to choose where to spend your dollars for the next two weeks. If you don’t believe a business is essential then wait until April 7th to spend your hard-earned money with them. Being a business owner for the last 16 years I fully understand how hard the decision to comply would be. This Executive order is not intended to turn Indiana into a police state. I as Mayor of Seymour will not be knocking on your door to let you know you are non-essential. I will not be sending any of our employees to make sure you comply. I expect you to be responsible business owners and responsible consumers during this time of crisis and to comply with what you believe is correct. We can stop the spread of this virus much quicker if we all work together now. Many of our industries have reduced work forces at this time, and I have read many small business owners posts about when they will be back to serve our community. We will weather this storm together. We will rebound on the other side if we help one another. I believe in us the citizens of Seymour and beyond. If we band together with a sense of community like we haven’t seen in decades, we will emerge stronger than ever before.