City Council Speech August 2, 2021

Most my sources are on this site in other places & I might add them to this page later, but I'm only one person & I'm overloaded, so I don't know.

Disclaimer: This is the speech I read from, but I skipped most of the conclusion. I also said a things to the effect of: if we're discussing policing & police funding, we should be discussing poverty, too.

Then

I'm speaking to convince you that our community is your responsibility. To convince you to take immediate action on COVID, including mask mandates, crowd size restrictions, and other measures which have proven effective during previous waves like this one.

Data

For five weeks in a row, leading up to July 2nd, we had less than 20 confirmed cases per week in Macon County. On July 9th, MCHD reported 31 new cases. 22 new cases the week after. Then FIFTY-TWO new cases on July 23rd. This week, we had ninety-one new cases.

Ninety-one new cases. Its growing faster every single week.

On to Delta

On July 9th, MCHD reported 1 delta case. On July 27th, 4 new Delta cases had been found. That was Tuesday. Then on the 30th. Three days later. On Friday, MCHD reported another FIVE new Delta cases.

Community Risk

Delta is here. It is spreading in our community. To our loved ones. To the roughly 15,000 children under 12 who can't get vaccinated.

Conclusion

This is all confusing, overwhelming, and upsetting. I hate it. I'm tired of it. I'm sure you are too.

But this is real. Its dangerous. And its in our community. I've spoken with several officials the past few days who have told me IDPH hasn't done blah blah or that the CDC hasn't done blah blah.

I don't care. We've been through this before. We know what to do. And we are not beholden to the state or what surrounding are doing. We need to look at OUR community. It's clear there is a danger here.

It is your responsibility as one of our leaders, one of our elected officials, to look out for the wellbeing of the people. You know misinformation is rampant. You know people are confused. And I'm sure you saw how many people stopped complaining and started masking when it was required the first time.

You need to do your job & save people's lives. It's gonna piss some people off. But are you here to get your personal voters to support you, or are you here to keep them safe and protect your community?

Every single death and severe illness is on your hands, if you choose to do nothing.