Governor Brown announced that on February 12th we will have reached a nearly impossible metric for the strictest level of re-opening – all without ever offering a shred of evidence that dining in restaurants or exercising in gyms contributes substantially to the spread of the virus.

It begs the question: Will there be businesses to open on Friday?

The New York Times reported today that Oregon has some of the most restrictive lockdown rules, as only one of two states in the country where businesses are “Mostly Closed”.

We’ve seen our main streets die across the state while small family businesses have been annihilated – not by the virus – but by the “cure.”

We have an ongoing childhood development crisis, as our education system remains absent except for the privileged few with the money to pay for private school. Depression and suicide continue to skyrocket – especially among our kids.

Oregon’s high school athletes have been barred from competition and training, throwing potential scholarships into jeopardy. All so we could be the 49th state to begin to reopen?

We need certainty that Governor Brown will not wage another war on the survivors of her siege against small business by reverting to a third total lockdown.

These restaurants, fitness centers and other small businesses are going to need to order inventory with a shelf-life, and bring employees back to work and off unemployment with little guarantee she won’t pull the rug out from under them again.

A D V E R T I S E M E N T

A D V E R T I S E M E N T

This opening is long overdue, and not enough. Our Governor needs to allow our schools to open in a way that actually makes sense to school boards, parents and most importantly our children. The Governor and our school boards across the state also need to stand up to the teacher’s unions and demand that they return to work. Elderly or otherwise vulnerable teachers who have not been vaccinated should be allowed to teach via zoom – to children in a classroom under supervision – if need be.

Decades of consequence await us. Our response in opening the schools cannot be as irresponsibly slow as reopening businesses. Please call the Governor and your local school board members and demand they open our classrooms immediately.

Editor's note: This first appeared as a post in facebook


--Stan Pulliam, Mayor of Sandy, OR

Post Date: 2021-02-10 10:29:08

Last Update: 2021-02-10 15:24:41