April 22, 2020 Update

It has been an eventful 24 hours for me.  Lots to report today.  Let's start with the numbers.

Coronavirus Stats

Nationally:  802,583 cases with 44,575 fatalities

State:

Utah County:  570 cases; 30 hospitalizations; 6 deaths

Current News

• Three counties in Utah - Davis, Weber and Morgan - have announced soft opening dates starting May 1.  The counties were short on specifics right now, but those will be added later, and they are looking at making changes to business practices at gyms, salons, and restaurants, as well as other office based business entities.  
• The State Legislature in its special session has created a commission to work with the Governor's task force to define specific standards and timelines for businesses and other entities to begin reopening.
• As you probably know, we are in the midst of preparing the FY 2021 budget recommendations for the Municipal Council.  Yesterday, I spent nearly an hour with the Council talking about what the Administration is doing to prepare a budget in the throes of the pandemic and the global recession now starting.  This article from the Daily Herald gives a pretty good summary of the discussion.  While this is clearly a hard year coming up and many options are on the table, I think we have a positive path forward.  We will be releasing the final recommended budget on May 4 to the Council and to the organization.  Details are still being worked out, but we are working really hard to minimize the impacts on the community, the employees and the organization.  Stay tuned for more information to follow.
• Following on the Governor's recommendations in Utah Leads Together 2.0, city leaders and staff are working on the first stages of  "reopening" city government and facilities.  There are obviously many moving parts to this, but we expect to have more to say about this early next week as plans develop. 
  
  

Provo Social Media

• The latest "Conversations with Kaufusi" features a discussion between Mayor Kaufusi and airport manager Steve Gleason about how the pandemic has impacted the Provo Airport and things are happening at the airport.  Don't miss this one.
• Our sanitation workers have been the recipients of some well deserved thank yous during the pandemic.  We know that most of our employees are not as visible as our sanitation team who appears in every neighborhood every week, so this thank you is clearly directed at more than just those who pick up solid waste, green waste and recycling.

The Mayor's Day

Mayor Kaufusi has been in meetings just about all day today.  Those meetings included:

• A meeting with Chief Ferguson and Captain Post from the Police Department
• A meeting with Development Services Director Bill Peperone
• Participated in a conference call with Governor Herbert on Coronavirus recovery
• Two and a half hours in budget meetings with the Mayor's office staff and Finance
• A meeting with PIO Nicole Martin on the "open for business" campaign
• A meeting with the Emergency Operations Team to discuss the Governor's initiative for taking the first steps at economic recovery from the pandemic
• Attending a virtual meeting with the Utah Municipal Power Agency board of directors
  
  

Employee Pandemic Resource of the Day

I have heard recently from some employees that they would enjoy links to some resources on managing stress through a stressful period.  If you are feeling a bit overwhelmed and haven't yet tried meditation as a tool, you might want to try this 10 minute guided meditation - after work and where you can sit quietly and comfortably.  The benefits of meditation - or even just some forced quiet - can be really remarkable.

Fun Stuff

I am running out of day, so I just want to share a video that was shared with me by one of our colleagues.  Several members of my family and some of my neighbors are working on sewing masks and this little video demonstrates how to sew masks, as well as some things to avoid.

Thanks for following the daily update.  Talk with you tomorrow!  Stay safe and healthy.

Wayne