Dear Salem Residents, it is getting quite late. The council meeting is on page 7 of a 54 page agenda. I will not make it through the full meeting tonight, but I will watch the parking matters on SATV when it is available on-demand. In the meantime, I will re-cap the mayor’s COVID-19 update.
As of today, 23 April, there are 304 cases in Salem; there have been 13 deaths. The surge-to-peak projections were for the 17–20 April, but we are still there. We do hope to see the plateau in the next week or so. Most Salem residents are recovering at home. The Salem hospital is not at capacity, but the ER is seeing higher than normal ICU occupancy.
Mayor Driscoll spent a good amount of time on the financial repercussions of this emergency. Small businesses are concerned about cash flow, rent, and layoffs; 46% of surveyed businesses in Salem were not confident that they can survive if the mandated closure extends through May. The city is exploring relief with the state and federal government, banks, and other avenues. Unemployment in Salem has grown from 3.2% (793 people) in February to 14.3% (3560 people) in March.
Before we can start resuming business, the state needs to be able to monitor and respond to outbreaks. The number of positive cases statewide and the amount of testing will influence the open date. The state is also identifying areas of risk that may see larger gatherings (ex., the commuter rail station), so that they can mitigate spread there. There needs to be a measured, state or regional approach. We want to reopen once and right.
Driscoll ended on a positive note. The city is working with a rich array of partners and everyone is working together. We will get through this. Continue to visit the Salem Together website to keep up with relief packages for residents or to volunteer.
Councilor McCarthy asked about the budget. Driscoll mentioned that the budget will be a mess and probably late. Many of the revenue streams will be eroded: hotel taxes, building permits, cannabis revenue, and so forth. Driscoll mentioned that the 4th quarter in this fiscal year will be fine; it’s next fiscal year where we will start to see some gaps. One of the wild cards will be money that we rely on from the state, which constitutes 25% of our budgetary support. Sen. Lovely and Rep. Tucker will lobby for Salem at the state level, but the state is going to be grappling with a delayed and tight budget, as well. In past years, deficits were known, the “bottom” and recovery of those deficits were predictable, and that simply is not the case this time.
Shortly after this update, we moved to the merits or risks on the installation of small cell wireless antennas from Verizon. There were six applications, and at 9:30 (2 hours in), we were on application number 3. There are ways to have more effective meetings, and I append a Robert’s Rules cheat sheet here with some ways to cut away the fat of these meetings. Of course, we use Cushing’s, but I am holding on to hope that we will adopt Roberts in the near future.
The Verizon applications were individual public hearings, which are slightly different from a regular meeting. In those instances, the applicant can present a case, the public can speak, and then the council can debate the merits. However, the majority of time was spent on councilor and applicant, with an occasional public comment.
Respectfully submitted, Jen Lynch