LETTER FROM THE MAYOR
March 19, 2020
Good Morning Everyone,
With the ongoing pandemic situation in regards to the Covid-19 "Corona Virus”, I would like to reassure the citizens of the Municipality of West-Lake Gladstone of the following.
Your Municipal Administrative Staff, Public Works Department and Council have been working diligently to quarterback all the issues that Covid-19 has brought to the table.
There seems to be no end to decisions that need to be made, and these decisions all have different impacts on different people and services. The safety of our staff and citizens will be our top priority. Our staff will work in smaller numbers, but together to minimize exposure while providing the essential service our citizens will need.
There is no doubt that a lot of this is being blown way out of proportion. There is also no doubt that this virus is real, and is impacting the world as a whole. We can not ignore it, we need to respects its potential to spread, and we need to be smart about the decisions we all make.
Understanding what isolation and social distancing can do for us is extremely important right now. Isolation isn’t being promoted as a way to avoid catching it, its a way to slow down the spread to prevent massive spikes in infected people, which will put tremendous strains on our health care system. There are some good articles on line and available in print that explain what "flattening the curve” really means. This information put things into perspective for me when we had to make decisions on what services needed to stop, and which facilities needed to be closed to the public.
The best approach for us as municipal leaders and citizens, is to use common sense, and to recognize what is actually important in terms of services and day to day activities.
When the public sees people in a chaotic state, they will run out and buy more toilet paper. If we use common sense and good judgement, we will get thru this and carry on with life in short order. We all need to do our part to flatten the curve.
Our council and administrative staff are committed to releasing timely and accurate information on a continued basis. We are in constant contact with the appropriate departments of provincial government and the health authority and will relay directives and suggestions thru our means of social media, web page, and "Connect App” Anyone who has signed up for connect will already be receiving communications. Connect is working well, and I encourage all that have not signed up to do so as soon as you can.
If anyone knows of someone in need of help, we are gathering information on services being offered by individuals and businesses thru out the municipality. Please reach out to the municipal office, or watch for this information to be posted as it comes in.
WestLake-Gladstone is encouraging business to implement plans that allow for continued essential services, while limiting exposure to multiple people at a one time. There is certain to be economic setbacks with this unfortunate situation, along with personal financial issues arising from short term loss of work. We will continue to monitor programs that become available for financial assistance and will post these in due course or when available.
With our schools and daycare's closing, this will create the need for new means of child care. Anyone with ideas can feel free to reach out to the municipal office with these suggestions. This will be something that people will need to work on together to come up with safe solutions.
Rural Manitobans are full of resilience and have the ability to survive crisis. Let's take this time to simplify what we do day to day, spend time at home with our families and take the time to reach out to those who may need help.
Stay safe, make good choices, and contribute to the solution.
Mayor Kinley
