Fellow Residents:
I wanted to provide you an update on the Covid-19 situation in our community.
First, I want to thank all of the residents of our City who are working on the front lines of this crisis at our local hospitals and clinics. We truly appreciate your dedication, strength and courage during this unprecedented time.
The University of Kansas Medical School houses the largest collection of letters from Florence Nightingale, and a quote from her came to my mind this weekend as I waited anxiously for our daughter to leave college, board a plane and get back to Kansas City tonight:
“How very little can be done under the spirit of fear.” – Florence Nightingale
On Friday evening, Johnson County, Kansas declared a State of Emergency. The link to the full release is here:
https://www.jocogov.org/press-release/county-management/johnson-county-declares-state-emergency
The Council, staff and I will continue to work with County and State officials on our coordinated approach. In all likelihood, this will mean the City will also declare a State of Emergency sometime this week. We will inform you as quickly as possible if that is the case.
I spoke with Chief Schwartzkopf, our police chief, again on Friday. The police have implemented their plan, which includes coordination with our neighboring police departments on back-up for dispatch and patrol. Public safety remains our top priority.
As I noted last Thursday, beginning tomorrow (Monday, March 16th), the City has implemented its Covid-19 plan and has split the staff into two teams. One team is staffing City Hall, the other working from home. This will enable us to continue to support key City services. I cannot emphasize how important it is for you to conduct any needed business you have with City Hall via the City’s website, www.missionhillsks.gov, or over the phone, 913-362-9620, rather than in-person.
We are also finalizing our plans to conduct our City Board meetings (Crime & Safety, Planning Commission, BZA, ARB and Parks Board) virtually. More communication will be forthcoming early this week on how we will implement this plan. Importantly ALL online/virtual meetings will remain open to the public, just digitally, rather than in-person.
I want to again provide five key resources for information about the situation in our County, State and Nation. We border another state and large metropolis, so their information sites are included as well:
Johnson County - https://www.jocogov.org/coronavirus-covid-19-update
Kansas City Missouri - https://www.kcmo.gov/city-hall/departments/health/coronavirus
State of Kansas - http://www.kdheks.gov/coronavirus/
State of Missouri - https://health.mo.gov/living/healthcondiseases/communicable/novel-coronavirus/
Centers for Disease Control (CDC) - https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html
Finally, please encourage your fellow residents to sign up for updates from the City’s website. The most timely information is available online and by signing up for notifications you can stay informed!
City Email or Text Notifications - http://www.missionhillsks.gov/list.aspx
Thank you for your support, strength and resilience, and should you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to call City Hall or email me directly at mayor@missionhillsks.gov.