Joe Henderson
It probably won’t be long until Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis joins other Southern Governors in charting a path to reopen commerce. When that happens, those of us who live in Hillsborough County would respectfully request the local Emergency Policy Group to step up its game.
It’s not just a question of if the state will reopen. The more important question is how it is done.
That nine-member bipartisan group has the authority to “protect the health, safety, and welfare of the County’s residents during declared emergencies.”
That’s fine in theory, but it can’t seem to make up its mind on how to go about that. And that’s a little scary with what’s at stake with COVID-19.
The emergency group includes three County Commissioners, and the Mayors of Tampa and Plant City, and the Vice Mayor of Temple Terrace. Hillsborough Sheriff Chad Chronister and School Board Chair Melissa Snively also are members. County Administrator Mike Merrill is a non-voting member of the board.
The EPG enacted a 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. curfew, only to rescind it a few days later by a unanimous vote. The argument: Members felt residents were confused by the order since the county already had public restrictions in place that complied with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines.
But Tampa Mayor Jane Castor basically forced the curfew. She threatened a stay-at-home order for the city no matter what the group did.
So, all right, there was a curfew.
Until there wasn’t.
The group considered mandating the use of facial masks when outside but didn’t. It decided it would be sufficient to “strongly urge” residents to use them. In my limited journeys outside the walls of Casa Henderson, many residents appear to have missed that memo.
I would strongly urge the EPG to first remember how quickly this virus can spread and go from there.
OK, so maybe an overnight curfew wouldn’t have had much impact. It’s not like the virus would only decide to infect people during evening hours. But it looked silly to pass it, then quickly rescind it. It pointed to indecisiveness at a time when strong leadership is crucial.
People are becoming impatient and a bit stir-crazy after weeks of staying at home. Many are in increasingly desperate financial straits. The virus doesn’t take that into account, though. And there are stringent medical recommendations that should be met before life regains some sense of normalcy.
Maybe we ought to hold on a little longer and see if there is a spike in infections in Duval County, especially around Jacksonville beaches.
Yeah, we want this to be over. We want everything to be open again.
Just do it the right way, please.
