| 2 min | from John Hansen |
The Dexter Forum met again via Zoom. We are getting used to the platform and remembering to mute our barking dogs and light our faces from the front.
We learned that developing an agenda is hard when there is really only one item on everybody’s mind so we just called on our elected officials – who were very well represented this morning – to bring us up to date on responses at their level to the COVID crisis.
Senator Theis and Representative Lasinski both commented on the difficulty of balancing public health concerns with economic concerns. Neither was happy with the presence of protesters in the capitol building carrying semi-automatic rifles. Michigan is an open-carry state by legislative choice and there is no ban on carrying weapons in the capitol building.
Commissioner Sue Shink told of the county’s efforts to serve those in most need particularly those with mental health challenges.
The three school board members present, Julie Schumaker, Mara Greatorex, and Jason Gold were all complimentary of the efforts made by staff to feed and teach our kids. And, as boards should, they were looking at the downstream budget impacts that will surely come from all of the lost revenue during the stay at home period.
Councilman Cousins reported that the Hilltop housing project moved another step forward with council approval on the first reading of the final site plan. Public events in the City are all either cancelled, postponed, or on a wait and see status. The first concert in the park which features the Dexter Community Orchestra is cancelled. You can social distance the audience but not the 60 musicians on the small stage.
The Dexter Community Theater group wants your returnables and they are going to hide them at Abby’s house until they can be safely processed.
Faith in Action appreciates your food and cash donations but wants you to hang on to your clothing contributions. There is no staff to process clothing donations and nowhere to store the amount of stuff that you are clearing out of your closets.
Doug Marrin, senior reporter for the Sun Times News, reported that the News is currently homeless and therefore working from their own homes. The paper temporarily reduced mailings but is gradually building back up as advertising dollars return. You can find also find copies around town in the grocery store, gas stations, and such. Or, visit https://archive.thesuntimesnews.com/ for all the news and more if you want to remain at home.
Doug also called attention to a recent article he wrote about Tricia Paff, a Dexter woman who used Facebook to assemble an army of over 200 area folks to manufacture and distribute face masks to area hospitals. “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed, citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.” – Margaret Mead
At the end, we took a rigged survey about the future of the Forum by asking those already in attendance if they felt we should continue. Enough (freshly washed) hands went up so the next meeting of the Dexter Forum via Zoom will be on Saturday, May 16 at 8:30 AM. Watch for the reminder on May 14th with the new secret code (there is a new code for each meeting).
