Who Should We Trust to Re-Open Broomfield?
Community.
Community is a word that elicits a sense of belonging. To be part of a community means caring for each other, for our families, and for our businesses. Our community provides an outpouring of support for those in need through charitable organizations like the Salvation Army, Broomfield FISH, and A Precious Child.
This especially applies in challenging times like these. Our community is adapting to respect social distancing, responsibly limiting of access to stores, banks, and restaurants, and yes, even requiring the wearing of masks when requested by businesses as they interact with their customers. And our community will adapt again as the challenges subside.
Go to any establishment in Broomfield and you will see this in action. For example, a small Broomfield eatery just recently re-opened, requesting customers to wear masks and limiting inside access to two people at a time, where a glass shield is in place to limit contact between employees and patrons. Customers are voluntarily accepting these conditions, and the line of customers is out the door.
Juxtapose this with Governor Polis’ April 26, 2020 Executive Order creating the “New Normal Advisory Board”. Straight from a George Orwell novel, Governor Polis is attempting to transform communities by mobilizing the power of local and state governments to “maximize social distancing of the Safer at Home phase” and use local agencies to “maximize compliance and enforcement efforts for the duration of the COVID-19 pandemic.”
President Ronald Reagan once quipped that “the most terrifying nine words in the English language are I’m from the government and I’m here to help.” Governor Polis and local agencies like the Broomfield Board of Public Health are “here to help”.
So, what does government “help” look like in Broomfield?
It looks like the Broomfield Public Health Director Jason Vahling clinging to the expectation that current health “crisis” needs to be contained through increased testing and continued community restrictions. The data being interpreted by Mr. Vahling is based on Colorado Department of Health case data, which included a dramatic jump in reported cases on April 23rd, 2020 as that government agency catches up on case data which was dumped into the numbers reported for a single day.
It looks like restrictions on establishments that provide personal services, sports training, dog training, and other small businesses after the extended stay-at-home order ends on May 9, 2020, to the point that they are wondering now if they will be able to open again, if at all.
It looks like non-committal answers of Broomfield officials on the April 29, 2020 “Back to Business” conference call to direct questions from business owners about guidelines to re-open after May 9, 2020.
It looks like “to-be-determined” conditions for restaurants, gyms, movie theaters, and schools to re-open any time soon, all based on the direction and decision of the Broomfield Board of Public Health.
What should “help” really look like?
It should look like that small business we described earlier that adjust as they deemed appropriate to meet the needs of their customers, with the ability to continue to adapt over time.
It should look like the City and County of Broomfield providing clear expectations as businesses begin to re-open. No hedges. No “to-be-determined” plans.
It should look like the City and County of Broomfield deferring to community of restaurants, shops, churches, salons, medical facilities, and stores to make the best decisions on the part of their employees and their customers. Businesses are prepared for the current conditions, it is time to release them to get back to work.
It’s time to trust the citizens and businesses and to re-open Broomfield, where they can voluntarily interact with each other to restart the local economy. We the people are more likely to do what the small business owners are requesting from us versus what the State and County government is demanding of us.