Pullman, Moscow mayors confident their residents will rise to challenges

Pullman Mayor Glenn Johnson sings regularly as part of the choir at Trinity Lutheran Church in Pullman, members shoulder to shoulder before the congregation.

Things were different this weekend.

“Choir members were six feet apart,” Johnson said. “We were doing our part to keep safe social distances.”

In a time of general anxiety about all things COVID-19, daily life for residents on the Palouse is changing. Johnson and Moscow Mayor Bill Lambert, each reached Sunday afternoon, said they are encouraged by the response of their communities in the face of the new coronavirus while acknowledging challenges for residents and for the cities lie ahead.

There have been no confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Whitman or Latah Counties, though the number of cases in Washington and Idaho have continued to rise.

As of Sunday afternoon, the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare reported five confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Idaho. Two are in Ada County, one each in Blaine County and Teton County with the fifth near Twin Falls.

In Washington, the state’s department of public health has reported 42 deaths due to the virus statewide, with about 650 confirmed cases of infection. There are four confirmed cases but no deaths reported in Spokane County, which borders Whitman County to the north.

Johnson said his church will not be meeting in person next week, moving instead to online services, a modification made to contain the potential spread of COVID-19. Other churches in the region are making similar changes.

Johnson said he encountered several residents over the weekend who wanted to make sure local businesses, especially restaurants and those in the food service industry, were taking the needed precautions in terms of sanitation and hygiene. Johnson said Pullman restaurants are stepping up and has no reason to believe they won’t continue to do so.

City officials had a special budget meeting Thursday of last week, Johnson said, “knowing full well our budgets are going to be greatly impacted.” He said the city has budget meetings scheduled for this week as well, including an 8 a.m. meeting today. The Pullman City Council will meet Tuesday, he said.

With about 27 percent of Pullman’s budget funded by sales taxes, and revenue hits expected in coming weeks from falling event admission and lodging taxes, Johnson said the city needs to prepare for ways to limit expenses, though the city has not set a percentage goal as of yet.

In Moscow, Lambert was reflective about the challenges already faced and the ones that might be ahead for the city.

“In three months or six months or a year, whenever we’re past this thing, I want people to say that we did the right thing,” Lambert said. “That we were out in the forefront. Perhaps there will be some things we didn’t need to do, but the risk of not doing them would have been worse. … I want people to know we were proactive.”

The mayor Friday released a local emergency proclamation indicating the city will cancel all city-sponsored events which might draw audiences from communities with confirmed COVID-19 cases. The city will not have indoor events with more than 250 individuals where social distancing of six feet or more is not possible, and will not have events which will expose high-risk populations to the virus.

Lambert encouraged others to follow the guidelines, which are recommended by the Idaho Department of health and Welfare.

Lambert indicated the city will discuss the COVID-19 issues extensively at tonight’s City Council meeting. He said he is not one to discourage public attendance, but people need to be wise about their choice to attend city meetings in person. Instead, he and other city officials would welcome phone calls or emails.

“This is a paradigm shift from the past,” Lambert said. “And we’ll look closely at scheduled meetings. If we don’t need to have them, we won’t. We’ll reassess that each week, and tighten or loosen as needed.”

Options for remote viewing of Moscow council and committee meetings can be found at https://www.ci.moscow.id.us/522/Meeting-Videos.

Johnson and Lambert expressed concern many residents might be getting information about the spread of COVID-19 from unreliable sources. They suggested the following sites for up-to-date and accurate data and safety information:

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/

Washington State Department of Health: https://www.doh.wa.gov/Emergencies/Coronavirus

Whitman County Public Healht: https://www.whitmancountypublichealth.org/

Idaho Department of Health and Welfare: https://coronavirus.idaho.gov/

Public Health Idaho North central District: http://idahopublichealth.com/