COVID-19 State of emergency Public Comment from Jerry ONeilFrom:Jerry O"Neil
To:Kalispell Meetings Public Comment
Subject:[EXTERNAL] Declaration of State of Local Disaster Emergency due to COVID-19
Date:Monday, April 6, 2020 4:14:12 PM
Kalispell City Council,
According to an article in the Daily Inter Lake, you are considering a Declaration of State ofLocal Disaster Emergency due to COVID-19 where:
City Manager Doug Russell would also be entrusted with a number of emergencyresponsibilities, including preventing “ingress to or egress from all or part of the
city and to direct law enforcement to enforce quarantines and curfews in all orparts of the City concurrent with or at the direction of the County Board of Health
Officer.”
As a candidate for Kalispell's House District 7, I am interested in:
Ingress To all or part of the city - Who are you intending to keep out of the city? Would thisinclude the people from San Francisco, New Orleans, or New York who want to come to a
safe place to live? Could you get the same results by requiring them to wear face masks andremaining in quarantine for a specific amount of time? Wouldn't it be the Christian way to
welcome them to our town while taking steps to protect ourselves - rather than forbid themfrom coming?
Egress From all or part of the city - The Germans did similar to this when they prevented theJews from egressing from the Warsaw Ghetto. I didn't realize the Kalispell City Council had
the authority to do the same.
Quarantines - I remember our house on 1st Avenue West having a quarantine notice posted on
it when my brothers and I had the mumps or measles; so I believe this must be allowed underyour police powers. I just ask that you fashion your declaration to at least consider allowing
people to leave their homes as long as they stay a certain distance (6'?) from other people andwear face masks if and when they might be closer to others, such as when they go to the
grocery store, hardware store, drug store or church.
Curfews - It seems to me that in order to allow and encourage the residents of Kalispell to get
some fresh air and outside exercise when the least number of people are on the streets, acurfew of the general public is uncalled for. If someone wants to go jogging at 4 o'clock in the
morning, I would think that is commendable and hopefully it will keep them in good enoughphysical shape that they can ward off COVID-19.
While I can understand you might not agree with me on these points, I still implore you not topre-authorize the police, city manager or any others to conduct these items without a new
hearing when the necessity becomes apparent.
Thank you for considering my ideas.
Jerry O'Neiloneil@centurytel.net
jerryoneil.com
406-250-2503