Cd’A mayor Widmyer signs emergency declaration

Coeur d’Alene Mayor Steve Widmyer signed a proclamation Tuesday night that declared a local disaster emergency in response to the coronavirus.

The move will allow the city to submit expenditures regarding crisis management to the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The decision to declare the emergency, Widmyer said, was one the city staff did not take lightly.

“We discussed amongst the city team to have this declaration,” he said before the proclamation, “to open up funding options and all other measures to enable us to keep our citizens safe and healthy. It’s critical that all our citizens take the recommendations of our health care professionals very seriously.”

Despite rumors to the contrary, the move does not grant Widmyer or the government the authority to close a business. City attorney Michael Gridley emphasized that point during a question-and-answer session with City Council members.

“To be honest with you, this is uncharted territory in a lot of ways, whether it’s for public safety folks, health [professionals] or lawyers trying to figure out what the authority is,” Gridley told the council. “… I know there’s a lot of concern about closing businesses at this point and time. I don’t think we have the authority to say, ‘You must close.’ It’s one of the questions we’re still looking at, because if somebody with a restaurant says, ‘I don’t want to close,’ can we go make them close? At this point, I don’t think we can, but we could suggest they do.”

The declaration instead emphasized that the city would follow the lead set forth by the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare, as well as the Panhandle Health District. This includes postponing or canceling all city-sponsored events that draw audiences from infected communities and states, events that bring together 10 people or more while inhibiting the new practice of “social distancing” in 6-foot increments, and events that include or expose high-risk populations, which includes 60-and-older crowds and those at higher health risks. It also focused on expediting coronavirus-related bidding processes and to activate response and recovery needs when they arise.

The declaration was good for seven days but was promptly extended to 30 days with a council resolution.

Widmyer’s declaration comes as Coeur d’Alene collaborated with Hayden, Post Falls and Rathdrum to craft a unified response to the coronavirus pandemic, which has infected 4,226 Americans and more than 179,000 worldwide. The statement backs both Idaho’s state of emergency and Kootenai County’s emergency declaration while coordinating with the county’s Office of Emergency Management.

“The cities pledge to work closely with the OEM and other public entities and health care providers to respond to the COVID-19 epidemic,” the statement released by Post Falls public information officer Kit Hoffer read. “Residents are urged to follow the recommendations of the Center for Disease Control and Panhandle Health District aimed at slowing the spread of COVID-19.”

The statement further urges residents to remain calm while limiting the purchase of food and cleaning supplies. Widmyer told the council and the city that combating the coronavirus will only succeed if residents work together.

“Make no mistake about it: We’re in a fight,” Widmyer said. “We’re in a fight to save lives, and this isn’t going to be easy. Anybody who says this is going to be easy isn’t telling the truth. This is going to be hard.”