Jay cancels meeting due to lack of quorum
The Jay Town Council normally meets Monday nights twice monthly but rescheduled for this past Tuesday because President’s Day was Monday. The Century Town Council usually meets on the first and third Tuesday nights monthly but council meetings scheduled for Tuesday night in both the towns of Jay and Century were cancelled.
The town of Jay cancelled due to a lack of quorum, while a staff shortage due to the majority of town employees being ill is what prompted Century’s cancellation.
According to Century Mayor Luis Gomez, four out of six town hall employees have been sick with at least one employee who tested positive for COVID was the reason Gomez had town hall closed.
“We have a lot of staff out sick,” said Gomez. “And as a precautionary measure I’m going to keep the doors closed until I can get some people in there to sanitize the building.”
Gomez said that with COVID cases on the rise, he did not want to take a chance. He said with about 90 percent of the staff sick, he did not see any reason to bring the public or council members into the building Tuesday night so he cancelled the council meeting. He said he spoke with a cleaning service that may be able to get into the building to sanitize it as early as Wednesday night with hopes to re-open town hall Friday.
“I’m going to require the all clear from each employee for each employee before they enter the building,” said Gomez. “I want an all clear on COVID, Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV), flu, everything.”
Gomez cited a past administration where town hall was open for a week, then closed, and stated that the town can’t do that because there is no money, no state of emergency, no protocols in place currently. He said he is not going to take the chance of becoming sick and wants to protect the public as well. He said they might issue a mask protocol for a few days or more just to be safe.
Gomez said he felt compelled to do something proactive to avoid what could become a real problem.
“I care more about the employees more than I do a bill needed to get paid,” said Gomez. “People can drop their money in the drop box. We will get it. Sunday is Feb. 25, and no one should get cut off. They can pay it early.”
Gomez said he is trying to protect everyone, his employees, the public and himself. There is a special meeting scheduled for Tuesday night, so that is when the council will address the council agenda set for last Tuesday night’s meeting. He hopes to have the building opened this Friday at the earliest. If not, he says Monday the building should be open and the town should be back to business as usual.
