BY SYDNEY HOOVER AND LUCIE KRISMAN
In his fifth year as mayor, Tim Reazin took on a new task not in the job description: navigating the city through a global pandemic.
He and the four other city commissioners have spent the last seven months adjusting to virtual meetings, assisting local businesses and organizations, and trying to make the best decisions they can for the community during a time of many unknowns.
“We will make what some people perceive as really bad decisions and some people perceive that same decision to be the best decision ever,” Reazin said. “My hope is that we have open communication. That’s what I would love to see throughout this whole process.”
With kids out of school, businesses closed and coronavirus cases ticking up every day, elected officials in Eudora found themselves making decisions that impacted nearly every part of the lives of their community members throughout the past seven months.
Throughout the pandemic, elected officials in Eudora have looked to local and state health departments for guidance, beginning in March when meetings moved to a virtual model. But Vice Mayor Ruth Hughs said the pandemic began to really show its effects on the community on March 17 when Gov. Laura Kelly ordered schools to close for the remainder of the school year.
“That was the beginning of really realizing that this is going to change our way of life,” Hughs said.
The commission moved to remote meetings in March, which residents can dial into via conference call information posted to the city’s website for each meeting. Overall, while virtual interactions are not the same as in-person discussion, commissioners feel productivity has not been halted by the changed meeting format.
“We’re definitely meeting the needs and the demands of what needs to be handled, and we’re doing it in a great fashion,” Commissioner Roberta Lehmann said. “It’s just not the same as having that interaction with the commissioners and carrying on a conversation, asking questions in real time.”
That was also when School Board members found themselves in an equally difficult and unprecedented position as they worked through plans for remote learning, from providing students technology and learning resources to ensuring children received free breakfasts and lunches during school closures.
Board member Lynn Reazin said then, she believed closing schools may have been an overreaction. Now, she said the past months have been humbling.
“Seeing happiness and seeing tears of students and parents, it's very impactful,” Lynn Reazin said. “It made me appreciate the role that I've been put in and elected to.”
Tim Reazin said one of the biggest issues facing the city is the wellbeing of students who aren’t in school.
As the School Board began preparing to reopen schools in August, a main topic of conversation was students’ mental health.
Lynn Reazin said in her voting, she’s focused on making sure there are options for families depending on their situation. The Eudora School District currently offers a remote option in addition to the modified in-person model.
“That's really what I got down to is can parents make the best choice for their child?” she said. “That's why I voted the way I did is because I felt like we had options for the parents to have a choice.”
In addition to students, Hughs said her main concern was the health and safety of senior citizens in the community. As one of the more vulnerable populations to the virus, Hughes said the city tried to help that community with the struggles of isolation.
Local business owners also felt the impact of the stay-at-home order in the spring, and Commissioner Tim Bruce said he could see that impacting the community at a larger scale, with especially sales tax down.
The city received around $500,000 in CARES Act funding, much of which will go toward local business relief. Hughs said she is optimistic for Eudora’s economy, despite struggles at a national level.
“I’m hopeful that our economy will rebuild,” Hughs said. “Eudora is still moving forward at a good rate. I do believe that people maybe don’t agree about everything, but I think we all agree that we want a better future.”
Commissioner Jolene Born said the city has had to deviate from the typical promotion of community events in order to keep the best safety interests of residents in mind.
“We’ve probably had to take more of a step back from that because obviously if there’s risk involved, our job is to protect the community,” Born said. “We can’t put the city of Eudora logo on something that could present risk. We have to educate the community.”
School Board Vice President Joe Hurla said one of the key challenges he’s faced throughout the pandemic is balancing the opinions of every community member.
Parents had the opportunity to speak at several School Board meetings in August, expressing opinions ranging from entirely remote learning to full-time in-person school.
With four children in the district, Hurla also received constant feedback from his sons and their classmates.
“I'm always glad when there's students who use their voice in the community and tell us what it is that they think is best for them,” he said.
Lynn Reazin said even when a community member disagreed with her decisions on the School Board, she appreciated hearing their opinions and understanding where they were coming from to help continue informing her future votes.
Seeing the direct and immediate impact the board’s decision has on students and families has been encouraging and impactful in the way she sees her role as a board member, she said.
“People are expressing their opinions and when they're expressed in a constructive way, whether it's at the grocery store or in an email, it’s important,” she said. “The stories are important … and so I think our community's been amazing through all of this.”
The Eudora Times did not receive a response to requests for comment from School Board President Eric Votaw and board members Becky Plate, Mike Kelso, Samantha Arredondo and Mark Chrislip.
As the pandemic continues and elected officials adapt to operating in different ways, Tim Reazin said he hopes the community will continue voicing their opinions and getting involved with the commission.
“We’re not just five people that are making decisions for the community,” he said. “We’re five people that want input.”
Reach reporters Sydney Hoover and Lucie Krisman at eudoratimes@gmail.com.
To donate to support our community journalism, please go to this link: tinyurl.com/y4u7stxj
Comments