Bill Proctor

Commissioner • District 1

March 12, 2020

Press Statement
Commissioner Proctor Seeks City/County Action on COVID-19

Today, Commissioner Bill Proctor has asked Chairman Bryan Desloge and Mayor
John Dailey to facilitate immediate leadership in the county and city’s efforts to
protect all against the COVID-19.

The memo is a follow:

As we continue to monitor the inevitable spread of COVID-19, our local leadership must proactively
work to mitigate the impact of the virus on the health and economic welfare of all residents in our
community.

With so many things unknown about COVID-19, we must do our best to create solutions that will allow
us to be adaptable in the days, weeks, and months ahead. Here are my thoughts about the steps we can
take around sanitation, outreach to the homeless, and benefits for our workers.

I. Sanitation

1. I am requesting, portable handwashing stations across Leon County and the City of Tallahassee.
Public health professionals agree that hand washing is one of the most effective ways of
preventing the spread of the virus. We need stations around the city to provide easy access to
handwashing - especially for the homeless community who may lack access to other means of
consistent handwashing. Please note how well motor scooters have been made accessible to
people all around our community. We need handwashing stations to become more available.

II. Street Outreach & Housing Resources

1. We need outreach teams sharing vital information, answering questions, and passing out
literature to vulnerable communities. I am requesting immediate funding for expanded street
outreach services to both educate people on the streets about COVID-19 and to provide
resources for service connections.

2. We should plan special funding for short-term emergency housing for people living on the
streets who are already medically fragile to prevent senseless deaths from the spread of COVID-
19. I believe we must create partnerships with private hotels to get people off the streets today.

III. Worker Benefits & Protections

 1. We should be prepared to provide additional paid time off (PTO) to city and county employees
impacted by COVID-19 that won't exhaust their current accrual of sick and vacation benefits.

2. Currently, the County/City of Tallahassee should immediately institute a universal tele-work

policy for all their employees that provides blanket permission to work from home for workers
with dependents who either have COVID-19 or have had their school, daycare center,
etc. closed due to COVID-19.

3. Until we have policy in place our workers will not follow medical recommendations to
quarantine unless they are secure about their job security. During this public health crisis the
city and county must communicate with clarity our policy to employees with respect to COVID-
19 impacts. In order for workers to self-quarantine it is vital that they understand personnel
policy that affects job security and paid time off. This factor alone will help to stabilize our
citizens.

Our responsibility to our residents requires us to be transparent in how we're going to make it through
this time together as one voice. We must be united in our response to the public. Let us adopt policies
to be adopted by leadership across the County/City. I look forward to your expedited leadership on this
matter.

Bill Proctor
Leon County Commissioner
District 1