HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0843.038 2018-2020 P/ . avail
COUNTY CLERK MO w` 10
1000
COUNTY OF HAWAI'I I
RECEIVED f
Time 1211111 By
Thu 3/19/2020 12:22 PM Date MAR 1 9 2020
Council Testimony for Friday 3/20
To: Council Testimony
Aloha;
I'm submitting testimony that I would like to have included for the council meeting tomorrow,
please.
As a longtime Big Island resident(over 25 years), I'm dismayed by the current lack of action
from the Mayor's office. While the Governor's recommendations are not mandated (as they
SHOULD BE), I don't feel that they should be disregarded by this entire county. I'm a small
business owner. My business may not survive this. But I'd rather be trying to figure out how to
pay my mortgage or rent,'or how to find enough food, than to see family and community
members fall ill and even die from COVID-19. Many of us have vulnerabilities, myself included.
We cannot trust all business owners and the public, as well as tourists, to be acting responsibly
when it comes to this level of danger. We have the warnings from Italy. How are we different?
The virus is here, we know it is. Disregard for the warnings and lessons learned is unforgivable
when lives are at stake. We don't even have the resources here to accommodate the potential
numbers of sick and dying people, nor to support the healthcare workers. We must act now to
mandate the recommended actions, as well as to do everything in our power to either stop the
tourists from coming in(closing hotels is one option), or forcing them to quarantine for the
recommended period. People or economy is the choice. Make the hard decisions to take care of
the people now. Then use every resource and all the community manpower we can muster to
make sure we can get through this economically.
Mahalo
Susan Chouinard
Waimea
Comm. No. 4:61'0'111)
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Ref. nate MAR 2 0 2.112a