Mayor, council members say they are eager to hear plan from Gov. Abbott
(Seguin) — The Seguin City Council is watching closely to see how the state proceeds with its plans for reopening the Texas economy. The council received an update on the latest local and statewide response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
City Manager Steve Parker says Governor Greg Abbott has started the first phase of reopening Texas. That includes easing restrictions on hospitals and other medical facilities that will allow more medical procedures to be done.
The governor is also allowing all retail establishments to open using a curbside or to-go-only format. Parker says many local stores are already offering curbside services, so that might not have a huge impact in Seguin.
But he says the governor is expected to offer more strategies next week about how to get the state’s economy back up and running.
“There will be a new executive order coming out, that will really address how we might start to see the slow opening of businesses going forward. What initiatives will that have to be. I think a lot of the community and a lot of the state clamoring for services like hair salons and nail salons and clothing stores — all those types of things to come open, sooner than later and how we do that. What has to be in place? Will people have to wear masks? Will they have to be able to sanitize their hands? Hopefully, we can get all those types of things looked at and come up with a good plan for ourselves. We don’t know how much of the initiatives, he will put back on the local governments — the counties and the cities. We do feel that it is going to be varied, because there are different communities that are impacted right now at a very different level than other communities,” said Parker.
Mayor Don Keil says he hopes that the governor can find a way to allow more people to go back to work. He says too many people are suffering because they can’t open their businesses.
“I’ve had a lot of personal services people — the hair dressers and so forth — really (ask about this). Hopefully, they can get back to work, and the restaurant people as well. All of these great small businesses that we have, and I just cry for them, because they have their lives wrapped up in these places and they are just treading water and it’s from nothing that they did. Hopefully, the government can come through with some loans. Plus, I hope the governor has a good task force and comes up with some reasonable ways to get these people up and running,” said Keil.
The governor has said that more of his plan will be revealed on Monday, and he has insisted that they will make decisions to get Texas open again, while also keeping people safe. Staying safe was also part of the message from the city of Seguin Tuesday night. The city manager told the council that Seguin this week has picked up a couple of new cases, which also pushes up the overall number for Guadalupe County.
“Guadalupe (County) has increased from 40 cases to 63 cases in a two week time period. Seguin had a case today (and) that brough us to seven. We know of at least one more. We have had three recover, of the seven here in the community. We have one hospitalized in Seguin at this time,” said Parker.
Parker thanked the community for taking the necessary steps to try to reduce the spread of the virus. He says those actions are working, but he says everyone has to continue to do their part to keep those numbers down.
“We just can’t become too comfortable with this pandemic and we need to make sure that we are still following all these things. I still encourage people to be very courteous and gracious at the grocery stores, and (don’t be) reaching around people. I still see it. The stores are packed and we just have to be really courteous and mindful of those situations. You may not have the virus, or you may have it and not know it, and be spreading it to people,” said Parker.
Councilwoman Jet Crabb agreed. She says it’s important that they stress that people follow the suggested guidelines. She says if we work together, we can expedite our ability to get through this crisis.
“Our total success is going to depend, I think, on how people still obey the rules. If the store or wherever you are, is encouraging you to wear a mask, wear one. Because if everybody wears it, that protects everybody. It’s very disheartening to see some people that seem oblivious to what we’ve been in,” said Crabb.
Mayor Keil says they are all eager to hear the governor’s additional plans on Monday. He says he hopes more people in Seguin, and across the state, will be able to return to work. He says if that doesn’t happen, the city may need to look at ways that they might be able to help some of those businesses in the near future.