City Council unanimously confirmed a Declaration of Local Emergency in a Special Meeting Friday.
In Wednesday’s Formal Meeting, the council agreed to continue the discussion about Gallegos State of Emergency Declaration.
Because of that declaration, restaurants and bars across Phoenix are having only take-out and drive-thru services to protect both customers and staff until further notice, according to a City of Phoenix press release posted after Wednesday’s special session.
With a Declaration of Local Emergency, preserves “the right for the Mayor to declare a great emergency in the future, should the circumstances warrant it,” according to the meeting’s results document. Restaurants will still only provide take out services during the Declaration of Local Emergency.
Mayor Kate Gallego is grateful for the work the city council and other elected officials have done but feels that we are far from the end. With the help from her fellow councilmembers, Gallego said that together “we are going to need all of it to get through this difficult time that is in front of us as a city and as a country.”
“This really is the first crisis to hit all 50 states, we will very likely see fatalities in all 50 states. We have not faced anything like this as a nation.”
Vice Mayor Betty Guardado, District 5, said there have been “a lot of different narratives put out there,” but feels that the city council is ready to work together to protect the community.
“I just want to assure everyone that I believe that we are still at an emergency and we need to take all the precautions necessary when it comes to if you can stay home then please stay home. If there’s anything you can do to help us flatten the bed, all of that is gonna be greatly appreciated because this is just the beginning and we understand that circumstances can get worse,” Guardado said.
Councilman Nowakowski, District 7, asked during the Special Meeting about having the funds for sanitation wipes, face masks, and gloves for police officers and bus drivers who are in contact with those who are currently sick. Ed Zuercher, City Manager, explained how it is not an issue of funding, but an issue of having enough items themselves.
Because this is such an unprecedented situation,” Zuercher said, emergency storages are not as stocked as they need to be and that supplies are being used faster than anticipated.
“Currently, we’re working internally to even out, (and) we don’t want one department having a big supply room full of something while another department doesn’t have enough,” Zuercher said. “So, the procurement folks and the department heads are leveling out the supplies across the departments and prioritizing them to the highest level responders, such as out paramedics and making sure that they have those.”
Nowakowski also commented during the meeting about the similarities between how Phoenix is reacting to the COVID-19 pandemic and how Phoenix reacted during the 9/11 attacks. Despite the panic, Nowakowski said that the city came together then and it needs to come together now.
“We come together as a community. We come together as restaurant owners, as business owners and we help each other out,” he said.
Due to the CDC’s guidelines, Phoenix City Council meetings will continue to have no public audience until further notice and can be viewed on the City of Phoenix’s official YouTube channel or on the City of Phoenix website.
Contact the reporter at ktmoss1@asu.edu.
