Several days before the start of the Easter and Passover holiday weekend, our Health Officer, Keith Levine, expressed his concern about the steady increase in Covid-19 cases in our area and the expectation of an uptick following the weekend when many people will gather to celebrate the holiday. Keith has routinely kept me informed of positive cases in our town and trends in our county and state. Since we are all aware that this virus will be with us for some time, there will be periods when the spread of the virus will spike and decrease, whether in the short term or the long term. As a result, it becomes necessary for us to be proactive in responding to the data compiled and published by public health officials if the primary goal is to ensure that we maintain government operations without disruption.
Since
we are more than 2-years into this pandemic, we have become much more
knowledgeable about actions we can take to protect ourselves and others. Just as important, we should also gain back
some of the personal freedoms we lost as we grappled with how to fight the spread
of the virus. I firmly believe that private
business owners should be free to restrict their patrons by requiring mask-wearing
if they conclude it is in the best interests of their employees and gives them
the best chance of not shutting down should the virus spread among them. This
freedom also extends to the patrons of those businesses. They can freely choose
to give them their business or not as they decide whether the restrictions are something
they can tolerate.
Most of
what we do in life is by choice. We can choose to attend family functions,
sporting events, business openings, public meetings, etc. We will always have
the personal option to wear a mask if that is what you think is necessary to
best protect yourselves from the virus. Just as importantly, you can choose not
to wear a mask should the event not require you to do so for whatever reason
you deem justified. I think what we
have all learned after living through this pandemic is that we have a lot of
power to take whatever steps we believe are necessary to protect ourselves
(i.e., mask-wearing, keeping social distance, vaccinations, booster shots, etc.),
and we should be able to do that without ridicule or judgment.
But
there are also times that it is necessary to take reasonable precautions to better
protect against the spread of the virus that may impact what others can and can't
freely do. With the primary goal of ensuring our municipal government continues
to deliver the services that residents and businesses deserve, expect, and
require, I decided that we should close the municipal building to visitors following
the holiday weekend. I based it on the data that showed the increase
in covid-19 cases leading up to the weekend and the anticipated further
increase after many gather with friends and family to celebrate their holiday.
My
thought process was that "we" (the municipal government) do not
function without the people who work for the Township. To safeguard against a
shutdown and create an environment within the municipal building that reduces
the potential for the spread of the virus from visitors without disrupting the
services we provide seemed like a no-brainer to me. Every employee and every department (Clerk, Tax
Collector, Tax Assessor, Construction, Inspections, Engineering, Health, Recreation,
Finance, and Fire administration) are still working and doing their job to
serve the community with the building closed to visitors. When the building is closed, all visitors are
greeted at the North Entrance by a staff member who facilitates whatever business
the visitor needs to conduct with the Township.
Absolutely everyone is assisted,
and every township employee is doing their job. And if you simply need to drop something off, there is a locked, black box at the North Entrance that is checked throughout the day.
My decision
to take the precaution of closing the building to visitors to keep the environment
safer for our employees from the spread of the virus did result in me receiving
some angry emails and FB comments from those who felt it was an "overreaction" a "power grab," a "denial of their freedom to enter a public
building" or "hypocritical" because I was seen out in public without
a mask. Some others believed that since schools were
open, we should be "open." Or, since other towns didn't close their
municipal building, we shouldn't either. All that I can say is that my only
consideration is the obligation to take whatever reasonable actions are necessary
to protect our employees and maintain an operating government for the benefit
of the community. Making decisions based solely on what other towns or
administrators do was a mistake that my Mom and Dad taught me at a young age.
Remember the adage, would you jump off a bridge if your friends did? So, no, I
will continue to make decisions based upon credible information, careful
consideration, and what ultimately is best for our town. Princeton, Hamilton,
and Ewing can do what is right for them.
I will
end by reminding all that the services provided by the Township to residents
and business owners can't be duplicated by going down the road and getting them
someplace else or provided to you virtually.
We must do what we can to stay
operational. I would rather take the criticism instead of having to shut down because I failed to act. Shoulda Coulda Woulda is not a great plan in a pandemic. From time to time, when proactive caution requires it, the municipal building will be closed from week-to week. We are back open right now. Stay safe and well, everyone!
Mercer County Covid-19 Cases Chart:
