Fellow Residents:
A quick update for everyone on today’s events, and several more thank you’s.
I spoke with Fire Chief Tony Lopez today who leads Consolidated Fire District #2 (CFD2). They support many cities in Northeast Johnson County, including Mission Hills, and are successfully executing their Covid-19 plan. As you might expect, they have some additional protocols for responding to calls, particularly those involving medical issues, but they continue to serve Mission Hills with aplomb, and we thank them for it.
We held our first virtual ARB meeting today and things went smoothly. We learned how we can run virtual meetings better, but I want to thank the staff, ARB members, residents who participated and architects for being flexible. A hallmark of Mission Hills is the thoughtfulness of residents, and you would have seen that today on this call.
The Council will meet on Friday to discuss extending the Emergency Declaration I signed yesterday. This meeting is public (but virtual) and the full dial-in information is at the end of this post. State law requires the Council to affirm an extension of the Declaration within seven days, and I am completely confident the Council will vote to do so. I will send an update Friday to let you know the outcome, as well as the implications.
Importantly, Johnson County and the State issued several releases today. The links are below. The salient points to take away are:
- 6 of the 11 known County cases were acquired locally.
- This indicates that coronavirus is circulating in our community and not only coming in from other regions.
- Kansas schools will not meet in-person for the remainder of the school year.
- The best strategies for prevention are hand washing and social distancing.
- Utilities are prohibited from disconnecting.
- Mass gatherings are further restricted.
Johnson County Press Release #1: https://jocogov.org/press-release/county-management/johnson-county-clarification-public-health-closures
Johnson County Press Release #2: https://jocogov.org/press-release/county-management/joint-county-announcement-covid-19-kc-metro
State Executive order 20-04: https://khap2.kdhe.state.ks.us/NewsRelease/COVID19/Mass_Gatherings_Executive_Order_20-04-Executed.pdf
State Executive order 20-05: https://khap2.kdhe.state.ks.us/NewsRelease/COVID19/Utility_Internet_Executive_Order_20-05-Executed.pdf
I want to leave you with a final thought and a quote.
This crisis will pass. I will not pretend to know when, but it will pass. The most reliable statistic I saw today showed that 94% of the active worldwide cases are in mild condition. This is not to minimize the 6% in critical condition, but I believe we should be realistically optimistic.
And I leave you with a quote from a fellow Kansan:
“Pessimism never won any battle.” - General and President Dwight David Eisenhower
Thank you and stay safe.
Special City Council Meeting
Fri, Mar 20, 2020 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM (CDT)
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