Area leaders urge caution, but continue to look to state for guidance on COVID-19
By Ed Nadolski
Editor in Chief
Three Racine County governmental leaders have no immediate plans to impose their own set of rules on residents and business now that the Wisconsin Supreme Court has struck down the state’s Safer-at-Home extension.
Racine County Executive Jonathan Delagrave, Burlington Mayor Jeannie Hefty and Waterford Village President Don Houston urged residents to continue to practice social distancing and other CDC-recommended precautions to prevent the spread of COVID-19, but offered no plans to impose their own restrictions in the wake of Wednesday’s 4-3 Supreme Court ruling.
“We are encouraged that businesses can begin to reopen but we must work collaboratively to protect public health and establish consumer confidence,” Delagrave said in a statement issued late Wednesday. “We urge businesses and residents to continue practicing social distancing and taking precautions to protect themselves and others.”
Houston said the Waterford Village Board believes in its residents.
“People should continue to follow the social distancing guidelines, along with all other recommended healthy practices,” he said in a statement. “By continually following these basic precautions we can have our freedom back but not spread the virus.”
Burlington’s Hefty said she is working on a plan to allow local businesses – including restaurants and taverns – to open safely.
“I am working with local experts to re-open the downtown creatively to bolster our local economy,” she said in a statement issued Thursday morning. “I anticipate introducing this plan for feedback to the Common Council at its May 19, Committee of the Whole meeting.”
At least one local tavern – Bubba’s Brickyard in downtown Burlington – wasted no time in reopening, with customers filling the bar on Wednesday evening.
All three local leaders advised business owners to consult the guidelines for reopening offered by the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation. The guidelines can be found at this link: WEDC
To what extent local businesses reopen is now up to individual business owners in the absence of restrictions or guidance from the state, county or municipalities. Public health departments serving the area also have the ability to impose restrictions, but as of Thursday morning there had been no indication of such an order from the Central Racine County Health Department, which is the public health agent for Western Racine County communities.
The City of Racine Public Health Department on Wednesday evening used such an order to reinstate the provisions of the state’s nullified Safer-at-Home order in that jurisdiction. The order will be in place in the City of Racine – which has seen a spike in COVID-19 cases recently – until May 26, the original expiration date for the state’s order.
Kenosha County also took similar action with the county’s Health Officer Dr. Jen Freiheit issuing an order continuing the restrictions of Safer-at-Home within that county until May 26.
The state’s Republican legislative leaders led by Assembly Speaker Robin Vos and Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald sued the state’s Health Secretary-designee Andrea Palm last month contending the extension of Gov. Tony Evers’ Safer-at-Home order was an overreach that failed to include the legislature in the process.
Vos and Fitzgerald were scheduled to meet with Evers, a Democrat, on Thursday to discuss possible plans in the absence of Safer-at-Home.
Evers said the Republican legislators succeeded in convincing four Supreme Court justices to “throw our state into chaos” by their ruling.
“We need everyone to continue doing their part to keep our families, our neighbors, and our communities safe by continuing to stay safer at home, practice social distancing, and limit travel, because folks, deadly viruses don’t wait around for politicians and bureaucrats to settle their differences or promulgate rules,” Evers said.
However, Vos and Fitzgerald in a joint statement said they believe the state’s residents are up to the task of fighting the virus as the state enters a new phase. They also said they don’t believe the ruling prompts people to act in a manner that endangers their health.
“Republicans believe business owners can safely reopen using the guidelines provided by the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation,” Vos and Fitzgerald said. “We urge our fellow small business owners to utilize the suggestions as a safe and effective way to open up our state.”
The legislative leaders also invited the governor to include them in any further discussions of rules relating to control of the coronavirus pandemic
“We would urge the Evers administration to work with us to begin promulgating rules that would provide clear guidance in case COVID-19 reoccurs in a more aggressive way,” they said.
Burlington’s Mayor Hefty said she looks forward to seeing what type of guidance the state offers in the coming days.
“It is anticipated that the governor and the Wisconsin Legislature will now work together and create, in a coordinated manner, a new set of rules and guidelines for Wisconsin citizens and businesses to follow, through a new replacement order,” she said. “Until then, though, we are on our own.”
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