Minutes - Council - 08/10/2020 - Laserfiche WebLink

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I believe this resolution has some noble goals. I believe protecting our local businesses is paramount, and also the freedom of our residents to live without fear of retribution for something out of their control is incredibly important- and something we need to focus more on. But the tone, the content, and the intentional divisiveness is disheartening. What we as Ramsey need is not an empty resolution, but communication and compassion from our leaders. We need to say that face coverings are part of the solution, but by no means the whole thing. We need to say that washing hands and staying six feet apart are an incredibly important aspect in slowing the spread. We need to believe that the sooner we do these things, the faster the pandemic will no longer spread at a rapid rate. We need to acknowledge that some in our community cannot wear a mask, and that is OK. We need to learn to read past the headlines, but stop before the comments. We need to not sew division on a topic that is truly meant to help all of our residents and backed by scientists AND economists. Goldman Sachs on June 29 published a study related to the economic outlook, and correlation between masks and the GDP. The result of their research? A nationwide mask mandate could save the national GDP as much as 5%. That is the equivalent of about $1 trillion dollars. https://www.goldmansachs.com/insights/pages/face-masks-and-gdp.html Neel Kashkari, who is president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis made a statement in the last few days, alongside Dr. Osterholm whom the resolution mentions. Their opinion was not about masks - but a call for even more strict lockdowns. And I quote “If we don’t do the hard shutdown, it’s going to be a much longer, harder economic recovery, with much more serious health consequences for many Americans. We can continue to fumble our way through it, or we can take a much more strategic approach.” As a reminder, this is the president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. To say his expertise does not revolve around the local economy would be wholly unfounded. https://www.startribune.com/prominent-minnesotans-pitch-lockdown-to-slow-covid- 19/572054322/ A recent study by the Cleveland Federal Reserve also shows that people are approximately 70% more comfortable when shopping if others are wearing masks. People who are comfortable will shop more or longer. Mandating face coverings therefore is for the economic benefit of small businesses. https://www.clevelandfed.org/newsroom-and-events/publications/economic-commentary/2020- economic-commentaries/ec-202020-survey-results-on-mask-wearing-behaviors-and-beliefs.aspx It is also important to remember that 72% of the United States population has some sort of face covering mandate, and that Pew Research acknowledges that 72% of Republicans and 88% of Democrats have worn a mask in the past month (as of 4/10/20). As much as you may try, this is not actually a partisan issue. This is common sense that the majority of Americans believe may be helpful. City Council / August 10, 2020 Page 12 of 13