Arrival of COVID-19 in Michigan made for a different sort of “Coffee Hour” with Brian Marl and Donna Lasinski

Initial impressions of scheduled “Coffee Hour” held this morning in City Council Chambers would have found this hardly different from any other here. [1,2]

Hosted by our Saline Mayor Brian Marl, accompanied by District 52 Michigan House Representative Lasinski, a lone podium was set in its usual spot — facing the dais. Table nearby with stacks of various, neatly stapled handouts. Familiar chairs for the audience, neatly lined chair-to-chair in rows. Typical. [3,4]

And yet the circumstances of this Coffee Hour, here, today, are different. Novel coronavirus, “COVID-19” is subtext, two days ago officially labeled “pandemic.” [5-12]

With that, the two speakers awkwardly adopted a greeting of bumping one elbow of each against the other in accordance with emerging “social distancing” guidelines. Representative Lasinski offered that some of her colleagues in Lansing had taken to knocking shoe heals between legislators and staff; Mayor Marl bristled, stating that he didn’t like to get his shoes dirty. [13,14]

Attendance looked to be half the size of typical, no two people sitting closer than several chairs empty chairs between them. Conspicuously, Police Chief Jerrod Hart did not attend. Neither did City Manager Todd Campbell (although he did pass through the room a couple of times before the Coffee Hour got started). [15-18]

At the same time, touchstone elements of this =Coffee Hour= were pressed on without any apparent deference. Representative Lasinski, for example, opened with a detailed discussion of ongoing state budget controversies; expect the governor to sign a negotiated Supplemental Request today — restoring many longstanding priorities previously cut en route to forcing further negotiation. [19,20]

Two clear swipes would have full blame for all of the above set firmly on Republican shoulders. And at the end of the hour, Mayor Marl made sure to make a strong closing pitch in support of anticipated City Council action next week in moving forward with Andelina Farms development. [21,22]

Some may have found such business as usual a reassurance that the novel coronavirus, if not all that bad, wasn’t something here seen by officials as all consuming.

The center and largest parts of this Coffee Hour did focus on COVID-19, of course. At one point, Mayor Brian Marl mentioned that senior City of Saline staff were concurrently meeting elsewhere in the building on this emerging issue. When a draft Notice from our City Manager was handed to him during the course of things, he uncharacteristically shifted his attention from this audience to read it. [23]

From the audience, Council Member Janet Dillon added to the discussion by sharing anecdotal observation that older students, no longer attending classes, were now spending that time at the mall and local coffee shops. [24]

“I think there are all sorts of unintended consequences like that that people didn’t think about,” she told Saline Journal after this event ended.

One of the clear take-aways from this Coffee Hour, then, must be that meaningful solutions and real answers won’t always be found in broad, radical moves. Rather, leadership must be able to see, understand, and attend to the fine details.

References

1. “Michigan House Representative Donna Lasinski set another high bar in constituent accountability with Saline Q&A today” Dell Deaton (January 11, 2019) Saline Journal.
2. “Saline Mayor Marl, Washtenaw County Commissioner Beeman talked priorities, concerns during ‘Coffee Hour’” Dell Deaton (December 14, 2019) Saline Journal.
3. Brian Marl (Facebook Page).
4. “Donna Lasinski: District 52” Michigan House Democrats.
5. “Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)” CDC: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
6. “Novel Coronavirus Reports” CDC.
7. “Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak” World Health Organization (WHO).
8. “Rolling updates on coronavirus disease (COVID-19)” World Health Organization.
9. “Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)” Health Department, Washtenaw County Michigan.
10. “COVID-19: What You Need to Know” (February 13, 2020) Washtenaw County Health Department.
11. “Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) (2020-0303)– statement issued by Mayor Brian Marl for City of Saline Michigan” Mayor Brian Marl (March 3, 2020) Saline Journal.
12. “Coronavirus: COVID-19 Is Now Officially A Pandemic, WHO Says” Bill Chappell (March 11, 2020) NPR.
13. “Schools, Workplaces & Community Locations” CDC.
14. “The Dos and Don’ts of ‘Social Distancing‘” Kaitlyn Tiffany (March 12, 2020) The Atlantic.
15. “Police Department” City of Saline.
16. Jerrod Hart (Facebook Page).
17. “City Manager” Saline.
18. Todd Joseph Campbell (Facebook Page).
19. “Executive Budget” State Budget Office, Department of Technology, Management & Budget, Michigan.
20. “Michigan budget bill headed to Whitmer includes $25M for coronavirus response” Kathleen Gray (March 12, 2020) Detroit Free Press.
21. “Brian Marl (2019.12.23)– on the City of Saline as 2019 draws to close, decisions regarding ‘Andelina Farms’ to come in early 2020” Brian Marl (December 23, 2019) Saline Journal.
22. “Saline Mayor Marl, Washtenaw County Commissioner Beeman talked priorities, concerns during ‘Coffee Hour’” Dell Deaton (December 14, 2019) Saline Journal.
23. “Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) (2020-0313)– notice issued by City Manager for Saline Michigan” Todd Campbell (March 13, 2020) Saline Journal.
24. Janet Vickers-Apuzzo Dillon (Facebook Page).