LEWISTON, Idaho (From news reports) -- Ideologies clashed Tuesday as the Lewiston City Council met to declare a state of emergency, with Councilor John Bradbury pushing for the shutdown of large employers like Clearwater Paper and the Clearwater River Casino to stop the spread of COVID-19, and other councilors arguing that such drastic steps would leave deep scars on the local economy that could ultimately be worse than the virus.
Bradbury was the only councilor to vote against the resolution, saying it didn't go far enough in designating a countywide authority to enforce public health recommendations on gatherings larger than 50 people (Councilor Kevin Kelly was absent).
"Until we are coordinated with that problem and we have the authority with a common director to deal with that problem, what we do here is meaningless," Bradbury said. "Not that it won't help, but the two greatest risks in this county (Clearwater Paper and the casino), we have no jurisdiction over and this doesn't address it."
Both businesses are in Nez Perce County, outside of the city limits.
Later in the meeting, Councilor John Pernsteiner challenged Bradbury's position. He said the emergency resolution is just a first step to empower city officials to cut through red tape and make quick decisions during the coronavirus crisis. Those powers help the city mitigate risk from the virus, he added, but that isn't the only risk.
"I will be the first to say the health of the citizens of Lewiston needs to be paramount," Pernsteiner said. "But what was proposed was an entire shutdown of the (Lewiston-Clarkston) Valley's economy. And that in and of itself, I could almost guarantee you would lead to more physical harm than the virus."
He pointed to studies indicating the economic recession expected to be caused by the virus has the potential to kill more people than the virus itself. Studies of past downturns have shown increases in domestic violence and child abuse, for instance, and some analyses connected the 2008 global economic downturn to a half-million deaths that would not have otherwise occurred.
"So the more that we shut down things and isolate and reduce our services, the more likely it will be that will have a long-term impact on the valley," he said.
City Manager Alan Nygaard pointed to ongoing emergency coordination between the city and Nez Perce County, primarily through interim Emergency Management Director Bill Reynolds, who attended Tuesday's meeting. The city and county also have joint emergency operation agreements and other pacts that were activated when Idaho Gov. Brad Little recently declared a state of emergency.
The resolution appointed Nygaard as the city's director of civil defense, and Lewiston Fire Department Chief Travis Myklebust as the deputy director. Under the state of emergency, city departments will follow public health recommendations by postponing or canceling all city-sponsored events that expect to draw people from areas with confirmed community spread of COVID-19; will be held indoors and involve more than 50 people, where social distancing of 6 feet or more is unlikely or not possible; or where the primary audience includes or may expose high-risk populations, including those older than 60 years old and people with underlying chronic medical conditions like heart or lung disease and diabetes, regardless of the number of attendees.
Nygaard also emphasized that while the city is now under its own state of emergency, residents are not locked down.
"None of these guidelines that have come out from the (Centers for Disease Control) require you to lock yourself in your house, close the blinds and binge-watch the coronavirus news broadcasts," he said, noting that it was good to see his neighbors out on walks this morning while still maintaining appropriate social distancing. "That's exactly what we need to do. We're not quarantining people within the community. We're not saying that's even necessary, nor is the CDC saying that's necessary."
Those with symptoms need to stay home, but everyone self-quarantining will take a toll on local businesses, Nygaard said. He noted that every emergency management plan now in effect has an economic recovery component for when the disaster is over.
"When it is done, we still want to have businesses that are open and operating," he said. "So we just need to be careful as we implement issues associated with the coronavirus that we are thoughtful of how they will affect the businesses within our community."
Pernsteiner worried that unemployment would spike if small businesses start to falter during the pandemic. He asked residents to pick up the phone and call local operations to ask how they can help.
"Dozens and dozens of businesses are figuring out a way to deliver their product to your home faster than Amazon Prime," Pernsteiner said. "And secondly, buy gift cards. You can't use their services today, but that would be a great cash influx that would help them during this time period."
