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To: Sedgwick County, KS, County Commissioners

Tell local leaders: Mandate masks for public health!

We ask you as Sedgwick County's elected leaders to show that you hold our lives sacred by joining the fight against the killer disease, COVID-19, by mandating mask wearing in public. We want you to: (1) plan a creative and effective educational campaign to convince the public that we can protect each other and slow spread of the virus by mask wearing; (2) offer free masks to unintentional violators ; (3) give citizens a channel to assist and educate non-wearers, not a reporting system to "turn them in"; and (4) offer willful violators a choice of either paying a fine or assisting in the public education effort.

Why is this important?

COVID-19 is a new virus that researchers are working to understand. Worldwide records show that this virus spreads much more easily than seasonal flu and kills people at all ages more often than the flu. You are exposed when you're close enough to inhale droplets from an infected person, and once infected, you may not feel sick or have any symptoms. Getting a test isn't as quick and simple as it should be. COVID-19 often kills by causing an extreme inflammatory response that waterlogs the lungs. A sick person fighting for air may need to be sedated and connected to a respirator, which requires constant care by a team of providers for days -- or weeks. Most of us will contract the virus before 2021, when a vaccine will hopefully be available. To slow the spread, lower the demand for hospital beds, and give our medical heroes some rest, we ask that you mandate mask wearing in public now! We will all be happier taking this simple step to protect our neighbors from the virus we might unknowingly have.

How it will be delivered

Via email; in-person, if needed

Category

Updates

2020-07-24 17:43:41 -0400

Hi Everyone!

Great news! The Sedgwick County Commission issued an order for wearing of masks during its July 21 business meeting. Here's a link to read the actual order: https://www.sedgwickcounty.org/covid-19/local-orders/emergency-public-health-order-july-21-2020/

Your names and comments were delivered on the previous Tuesday in this pdf document as part of the "Public Agenda": https://www.sedgwickcounty.org/media/57480/public-comment-emails-71520.pdf.

Other citizens who sent comments were opposed, as you can read in the pdf, so let's give ourselves for having a voice in this victory for public health!

Thanks again!

Jan Swartzendruber

2020-07-13 20:47:34 -0400

Hi Everyone!

I'm thrilled that this evening we hit 109 signatures asking Sedgwick County Commissioners to stick with Dr. Garold Minns' order for mask-wearing!

When I sent your names to the Commissioners and Wichita City Council members on Saturday, we were at 72 names. The city is already doing some of what the petition asks, so we should now focus on the Commissioners' meeting this Wednesday at 9:00 am.

Let's keep the names coming in. COVID-19 is not going away. Our leaders urgently need to expand testing -- TTI -- TEST, TRACE, and ISOLATE. For us, wearing a mask is our only way to take this enemy down. So let's do it!

Please share this link on your FB page and groups:
https://sign.moveon.org/petitions/tell-local-leaders-mandate-masks-for-public-health-1

Thanks again for everything,

Jan Swartzendruber

2020-07-13 19:52:50 -0400

100 signatures reached

2020-07-11 15:47:04 -0400

Hi Everyone!

Just an update: I've sent the first 72 signatures to the Sedgwick County Commission and the Wichita City Council and Mayor Whipple.

It said that we signers:
- appreciate Gov. Kelly's July 2 order on mask-wearing to slow COVID-19;
- thank the Mayor and City of Wichita City Council for voting to observe the governor's order;
- respect our County Health Officer, Dr. Jarold Minns, for promoting masks in Sedgwick County; and
- urge the Sedgwick County Commission to creatively implement the mask order Dr. Minns wants.

Let's keep building pressure until Sedgwick County comes around on masks! Can you take a minute right now to share the link with your friends?

Tell local leaders: Mandate masks for public health!
https://sign.moveon.org/petitions/tell-local-leaders-mandate-masks-for-public-health-1

Thanks for all you do,

Jan Swartzendruber

2020-07-11 12:33:33 -0400

Good Saturday morning, friends!

Thanks for being one of 62 people who have signed my petition!

Can you take a minute right now to share the link with your friends?

Tell local leaders: Mandate masks for public health!
https://sign.moveon.org/petitions/tell-local-leaders-mandate-masks-for-public-health-1

Your SHARE makes a difference, because in the next 60 minutes, I will download your names and comments and email them to the commissioners and the City Council.

Why now? Dr. Garold Minns, our county health officer, issued a mask order of his own on July 8. The Commissioners are coming around as active cases and hospitalizations rise, and medical staff are getting infected. It's urgent!

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1soUWqSUG0cInV59CHIYvffidusSdgw48/view?usp=sharing

Can we get 100 signers before noon today?

Thanks for all you do!

Jan Swartzendruber

P.S. Add a thank-you to City Council or a reason for your support.

2020-07-06 00:42:52 -0400

50 signatures reached

2020-07-04 23:49:41 -0400

25 signatures reached

2020-07-04 21:56:54 -0400

10 signatures reached

2020-07-04 12:13:54 -0400

Dear backers,

Thank you for signing my petition, Tell local leaders: Mandate masks for public health!

The petition went live around 9:30 pm on Friday, July 3. We now have SEVEN names out of my goal of 100 -- almost a tenth!

We're rolling, but we need more signers to have an impact. I will send signatures to the Wichita City Council, the Mayor, and the five Sedgwick County Commissioners when we hit 50 signers, so let's keep it going! Share the link at bottom any way you can.

Thanks so much!

-Jan

The link to share is https://sign.moveon.org/petitions/tell-local-leaders-mandate-masks-for-public-health-1.

P.S. Anyone can sign regardless of whether they live in this county or in Kansas. We're not just expressing a viewpoint: We're also determining the whole nation's public agenda. The building moral pressure of a caring AND INVOLVED community is what local leaders need to feel.