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CITY Of
LONGMONT
COLOR ADO
CITY OF LONGMONT I Office of the Mayor & City Council
Weld County Commissioners
1150 O Street
Greeley, CO 80631
Dear Weld County Commissioners:
We, the members of the Longmont City Council, are writing today to
encourage the Weld County Commissioners to respect, adopt, and
enforce all applicable state laws regarding the COVID-19 pandemic.
We believe the framework the state has implemented is a good
balance of public protection while trying to keep the economy going.
However, this framework can function as intended only if all teams
play by the same rules. As Longmont's elected officials, we take
seriously our responsibility to our community and understand that the
hardships inherent in these public health orders are necessary to
protect our residents from worse outcomes in the face of this health
crisis.
By not adopting and enforcing public health guidance consistently
across all counties, elected officials unnecessarily create a situation
that results in confusion and resentment in our business communities
and the general population. But more importantly, we fail to contain
the spread of infection, risk overwhelming our health care systems, put
undue stress on our frontline workers, delay economic recovery, and
risk the lives of members of our communities.
Following are the latest numbers reported on the state's COVID Dial
website, as an example. In the past three weeks, Boulder County has
seen declining numbers following the implementation of level red
restrictions, both in cumulative incidence and percent positivity rates.
Weld County, on the other hand, has seen both those metrics increase
during much of that period, only dropping below 1,000 cases in the
two-week cumulative incidence in the past few days. At this time,
Weld County's incidence rate is 86% higher than Boulder County's, and
the two-week positivity rate is more than twice as high.
RECEIVED
DEC 2 8 2020
WELD COUNTY
COMMISSIONERS
City Council
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MAYOR:
Brian J. Bagley
(303) 651-8602
MAYOR PRO TEM, AT -LARGE:
Aren Rodriguez
(303) 774-3615
WARD 1:
Tim Waters
(303) 774-3614
WARD 2:
Marcia Martin
(303) 774-3617
WARD 3:
Susie Hidalgo-Fahring
(303) 774-3612
AT -LARGE:
Polly Christensen
(720) 606-3665
AT -LARGE:
Joan Peck
(303) 774-3619
CITY COUNCIL MEETINGS: Tuesdays, 7 p.m., Council Chambers 350 Kimbark Street I longmontcolorado.aov
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Boulder Weld
Two -Week Cumulative Incidence 526 981.3
per 100,000
Two -Week Average Positivity 6% 14.4%
Days Declining or Stable 7 7
Hospitalization
Within Boulder County, Longmont continues to have the highest number of cases of any municipality. It of
course leads us to wonder if these higher case numbers in Longmont are a direct result of the alarming and
continuing high case numbers in Weld County.
The data tell us that places that implement and enforce stricter measures to limit or prevent the spread of
COVID-19 in response to rising case numbers fare better in terms of lower fatality rates and less stress on
their hospital systems. In the worst cases, with few or no restrictions, we have seen how the health care
system can become overwhelmed, healthcare workers fall ill, and demands on ICUs and morgues exceed
their capacity. Surely, this is not what we want for our communities, and we should work as one to avoid
those outcomes.
In order to help our local hospitals manage their resources, it is very important that all counties hold
themselves to the same standard, in accordance with the applicable public health orders and requirements
outlined in the state's COVID dial framework.
By not adopting and enforcing those guidelines across county lines, we create confusion within a community
and from community to community. This in turn undermines the effectiveness of the public health measures
intended to slow the spread of a virus that has already claimed almost 303,000 lives in the U.S. and more
than 4,000 fellow Coloradans.
We call on Weld County Commissioners to lead by example in making tough calls for the good of all
Coloradans, especially our front-line health care providers who bear more than their share of responsibility
for the health and safety of our residents. We ask you to make a public statement to Weld County
encouraging all to wear masks, to practice social distancing, and to wash hands in order to mitigate the
spread of the novel coronavirus.
Longmont City Council invites other neighboring communities impacted by the actions of Weld County to join
the City of Longmont in this regional effort to rally support of the Governor's temporary restrictions for the
benefit of all in the region.
We will welcome the Weld County Commissioners' commitment to join forces to come out of this crisis
healthier, stronger, and more successful together.
Thank you for your time and attention to this matter.
Brian J. Bagley
Mayor
CITY COUNCIL MEETINGS: Tuesdays, 7 p.m., Council Chambers 350 Kimbark Street I longmontcolorado.gov
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