Wow. What a week. What a period in history. I hope that you are acclimating as well as possible in our rapidly changing world.
I’d like to update you on a number of fronts as we head into what is sure to be another challenging week. As has been widely reported, there is one positive case of Coronavirus in Evansville, with others in Henderson and Owensboro. I believe this news affirms what our health care experts have been saying, that the virus is here and that we can all play a part in protecting public health. Social distancing and regular, thorough hand washing are two key components in slowing the spread of the virus.
I joined the County Commissioners last week in declaring a joint state of emergency in Evansville and Vanderburgh County. Among other things, this declaration has closed the Civic Center to the public. For the time being, city offices are still working (yes, there is still plenty to do with the building closed to the public), although we have several employees working from home. Should we need to close the building to non-essential staff, the work of the city can continue, as we have an unlimited remote work capacity. We have identified key personnel in each department, so I’m confident we have appropriate contingencies to continue the function of city government, no matter the circumstances. The Building Authority, which manages the Civic Center, performed a deep clean and sanitization of the Civic Center this weekend. All public restrooms, stairwells, meeting rooms and screening stations have been cleaned. The same will occur in other public buildings, such as the Ford Center and Victory Theatre before they re-open to the public.
There is a severe shortage of blood in our community. The American Red Cross is conducting a blood drive through April 3rd at its location on Stockwell Road. Because of the circumstances, you must make an appointment in order to be a donor. Appointments can be made at www.RedCrossBlood.org, or by calling 1-800-RED-CROSS.
We have organized two teams in the city to support the most vulnerable, one working on contingencies for the homeless and the other working to strengthen nonprofit organizations that are facing additional financial and volunteer stress as a result of the crisis. More information to come on these fronts.
We also realize a significant number of fellow citizens will face a reduction in work hours,
if not completely losing their job. We certainly support the state and federal programs that will be rolling out to assist those individuals. Our administration continues to assess the new federal legislation focused on time away from work. We hope to provide you with guidance on that issue by no later than mid next week.
We recognize that this public health crisis will have an adverse effect on our 2020 capital and operating budgets. We are finalizing a finance ordinance to repeal a significant amount of money from our capital budget, hoping that some line items can be restored at a later time. We will file that ordinance for the Council to consider at its March 30th meeting. Our Administration and outside financial advisors will continue to track our revenue very closely in the days and weeks ahead.
I continue to have daily conference calls with our hospitals and county health department. I have the utmost confidence in their expertise and analysis. We are blessed to have a strong, extraordinarily capable team of health care providers in our region.
I urge you to remain calm and flexible. We need each other now more than ever. Together, we will get through this difficult time and grow to be an even stronger city. Carol and I remain, more than ever, grateful for your friendship and support.
Take care,
Lloyd
