Officials Discuss 'Opening Up Madison County Again'
Posted by Bluangel on May 2, 2020, 9:14 am
EDWARDSVILLE — Officials held the first online meeting Thursday in an effort toward “Opening Up Madison County Again.”
“We are here to look ahead,” Chairman Kurt Prenzler said. “Business owners need hope for the future.”
Prenzler thanked everyone for being a part of the discussion to re-open the county — public safety being the No. 1 priority.
“We understand these are hard times, especially with the lives lost,” Prenzler said. “We also know we need a strategy for when businesses get going again.”
During the past week, Prenzler collected data from small businesses and local key sectors to put together an approach.
Committee members who took part in the online call included: County County Board members Erica Harriss of Glen Carbon, and Chris Hankins, Pontoon Beach; Nancy Schneider, Chef’s Shoppe, Edwardsville; Ben Golley, Today’s Beauty Supply, Alton; Matt McSparin, Edison’s Entertainment, Edwardsville; Greg Fowler, J.F. Electric, Edwardsville; the Rev. Danny Holliday, Alton; Jerry Roderick, Jerry’s Cafeteria, Granite City; James Craney, attorney, Edwardsville; Justin Hopkins, Truck Centers Inc.,Troy; and Loren Hughes, M.D., of Edwardsville.
Both Harriss and Hankins said they felt the committee was a good thing and local businesses were excited about moving forward.
“No matter what we do it’s a good thing to communicate on plans to open up,” Hankins said.
Golley said owners of small hair care salons and barbershops are struggling. He said the public needs to distinguish between a small business and a micro business.
“Micro businesses are the ‘mom and pop’ shops that employ one or two people, usually family member,” Golley said.
Some of the most common micro businesses include catering, childcare, photography, computer services, house cleaning, event planning, accounting and cosmetology.
Schneider said many small businesses were closed because they were deemed non-essential. She said it’s frustrating to be sitting outside her shop that’s closed and look over and see the parking lot full in front of Target.
Without drive-through or curbside service, McSparin said restaurants couldn’t sustain their business.
“The food industry will be impacted by all of this even after we reopen,” he said.
County Board member Tom McRae, who called in, said the committee was a great step in finding a pathway forward.
Prenzler said Thursday’s meeting was about gathering data.
“What we did today was the first step in our plan to re-open the county in a safe manner,” he said. “The next step is to formulate a plan.”
Kurt wants to open things up and hes made that known, i just dont think whoever is really calling the shots in this Republic cares. Who knows what angle JB or his bosses are running here, but my guess is that a promised federal bailout might well open things up within 24 hours after such a scenario, and its not as though the Republic is in play for Trump anyway. Put enough zeros on that check and Shazam, kids will be playing organized sports in parks, people will be dining wherever they want and it will be business as usual. At that point the politicians will start at zero and will begin tearing it up once again.
Re: Officials Discuss 'Opening Up Madison County Again'
They want people to be able to write Joe Bidens name on a piece of paper and mail it in and have it count, in fact they have blue haired old women doing that between swigs of hot tea as we speak. They are very willing to destroy the country just as long as in the end they are in charge of the destruction. Nothing Trumps taking down Trump, and they have been and will continue to prove that every single day. As the senate works, Nancy Pelosi has designated the house as non essential and its really hard to argue that point. You have to show more paper work to get out of Costco than you do to vote in this county now, and its only going to get more and more crooked as we go.