GOLF MANOR (1/11/2021) — Submitted by Mayor Stefan Densmore

A Word About the Events in U.S. Capital Last Week. I want to start off by acknowledging the events that took place in the U.S. Capital last week. My family and I were busy celebrating the last day of Christmas, Three Kings Day, or Epiphany, in our faith tradition– so we weren’t on social media or otherwise watching any live TV– and in fact consequently didn’t learn of the outside events that day until the kids were in bed. While we were outside playing with the kids earlier in the day, one of our neighbors did walk by and mention all the chaos in Washington– but we just presumed they were talking about the normal “everyday” chaos of Washington these days. I mention all that to note that –for better or worse– we weren’t as traumatized as many people were who were watching the events unfold live. But we were disturbed by it– as anyone would be who recognizes how fragile, some might even say miraculous, civil society is. It truly takes everyone’s participation and buy-in to have a democratic and civil society. I’m acknowledging all this because I believe it is our role as community leaders to serve the cause of increasing participation and buy-in in democratic civil society. It is truly remarkable that we have the society we have without the level of violence present in other areas of the world during transitions of leadership. Thank you, to each of you for your participation and buy-in, and the community we have as a result, for ourselves and our children.

COVID Update: I’ve included COVID data in my report in agreement with the Ohio Association of Mayors that we should encourage all elected officials to do whatever they can to convey the most accurate local information about COVID-19 to the public. [Data included in this portion of the report is provided by the Hamilton County Emergency Management & Homeland Security Agency Emergency Operations Center].

• Adult medical-surgical bed utilization in Hamilton County is at 85% capacity and adult critical care bed utilization has decreased to 85% capacity after being reported at 92% capacity last week.
• This past week (1/7/21) was the first time the US has exceeded 4,000 COVID-19 deaths in a single 24-hour period during the pandemic. On both previous dates, 01/05/2021 and 01/06/2021, the US set new virus death tolls as well, reporting 3,775 and 3,865 deaths respectively.
• I have the following information about the current launch dates for vaccination of specific populations in Ohio as announced by Governor DeWine last week:

• Nursing Homes.The following data is relevant to any of our residents who have family in Hamilton County nursing homes. To date, 61% of local nursing homes have been visited once by pharmacies providing vaccines through the federal government. The second round of visitations to administer second doses began last week (1/8/21). Nursing home individuals that elected not to receive the vaccine during the first round of visits will have an opportunity for the vaccine if they have since changed their mind. A third visit to administer any remaining 2nd doses will occur shortly after. Any individuals that pass on receiving the vaccine during these three visits will likely have to wait awhile for the next opportunity to receive the vaccine.
  • I want to acknowledge the work of Golf Manor resident Sandy Foglesong coming out of retirement to help in this effort providing vaccines to people most in need. Nurses are heroes, I believe we have unanimous agreement on that. I’m aware of other nurses in our community besides Ms Foglesong (whose sister by the way is Councilwoman Chaney)– Councilman Van Harn’s wife, Tracie Mashore Van Harn; and Former Mayor Zaffiro’s wife, Lisa Zaffiro are also nurses. As we get on the other side of the pandemic– hopefully this Spring–I plan to issue proclamations individually to all the healthcare professionals living in Golf Manor for their service during these unprecedented times. Please share the word of my intention to do this so that we can start to get a list of all the healthcare professionals living in Golf Manor active during this pandemic– I don’t want to leave anyone out in my acknowledgement of the community’s gratitude for their service.
• Priority Eligibility Based on Age. Next week folks 80 years and older will be eligible to start getting vaccinated. The following week folks 75 years and older will be eligible, then the next week folks 70 years and older will be eligible, and the next week folks 65 years and older will be eligible. Priority eligibility for vaccination based on age will not be lowered below 65 years old.
  • Within Hamilton County, there are approximately 128,343 individuals over the age of 65.
  • Tomorrow (1/12/21) the Ohio Department of Health will announce which providers have been selected to provide the limited available doses starting on 1/19/2021.
  • While the vaccine will become available to individuals with congenital, developmental or early-onset medical disorders on 01/25/2021, the state has not yet announced the details regarding the rollout to this population.
• This week (1/14/21) https://coronavirus.ohio.gov will provide details where individuals can receive the COVID-19 vaccine in Hamilton County and which populations are currently being served at these locations.
• Hamilton County Public Health has created an online Vaccine Registration Survey where residents of Golf Manor who are interested in receiving the COVID-19 vaccine when it becomes more widely available can sign up and express interest. They additionally have a mobile app that our residents can utilize that will help connect you to a local provider and notify you as soon as the vaccine is available. The app is called ArmorVax (available at the Apple App Store and Google Play Store). Additional details about a nationwide rollout of this app will become available as the vaccine becomes more widely available.

Status Update for Implementation of the NDO.  I’ve asked the Golf Manor administration to provide me with a plan for implementation of the non discrimination ordinance that was approved by the voters this past November. There have been concerns brought to my attention about how specific portions of the ordinance will be implemented. I want to make sure that I’ve personally heard the concerns that members of the community have, and am therefore requesting personal meetings with anyone who has concerns. I will not be discussing these meetings publicly, but will be bringing specific concerns to the administration and our legal counsel in an effort to make sure that our plan has addressed these concerns. So please spread the word, if you hear anyone expressing a concern have them reach out to me– so that we can address their concerns in the implementation.

Poverty in America Awareness Month. It is Poverty in America Awareness Month. And Martin Luther King Day next week. Martin Luther King of course was very concerned about poverty in America, seeing it as something compassionate and reasonable people ought to be able to unify around, in searching for solutions. Poverty in America has grown with the COVID-19 pandemic– there are an estimated 55 million Americans in poverty today. That’s approximately 17% of our country, or about 1 in every 5 or 6 people– and many in our village. Data from a US Census Bureau monthly report show nearly 500K Ohioans report “no confidence” or “slight confidence” in their ability to pay rent in January. This accounts for 28% of renters in the state. There are resource links on the Golf Manor website and in my report here for helping loved ones, yourself, a friend or client connect to local support. Please spread the word. I want to mention that I’m very proud of the members of our Police Department that have taken time to reach out to folks in the community during the holidays who were struggling, delivering meals and other assistance to folks in need. I know there are many in our community that are helping folks. If you are one of the people out there helping folks I want you to know we on Council are grateful for all your work.

Federal Executions. Finally I want to say something about the federal government plans to execute three people this week. Carrying out federal executions during a lame-duck presidency is unprecedented in modern times. Lame-duck executions have not been carried out in over a century. It has been 17 years since ANY other President has carried out the death penalty at all– and in the past 50 years, other Presidents have only carried out the death penalty 3 times. The Trump administration has already executed 10 people on death row. The relevancy of this to a Golf Manor Mayor’s report may seem a stretch for some– so here is my explanation: In my role as Mayor of the Village of Golf Manor I signed three petitions requesting clemency today, one for each individual scheduled to be executed this week. I am the white Mayor of a predominantly black community. Scientific analysis of the death penalty’s administration in the United States shows that it is disproportionately used on people of color, and continues to be one of the ongoing examples of systemic racism in the United States. As the highest elected official in our community I consider it part of my duty to acknowledge when these examples present themselves, and to model appropriate action in response.

This report is respectfully submitted to the Village residents of Golf Manor. Thank you for the honor of being your Mayor. To our staff and elected officials, thank you for your service to the community.

Stefan Densmore, Mayor, Village of Golf Manor