Knox County Mayor Glenn Jacobs' Weekly Update

Knox County Mayor Glenn Jacobs tells us about the week that was for April 27, 2020 - May 1, 2020.

TRANSCRIPT:

It’s Friday. Time for another weekly update.

The big news this week is that businesses in Tennessee are reopening. I am especially happy that salons and other personal service business will open today in Knox County, making us the first county in the state to do that.

I would like to clear up some misconceptions about my authority in situations like this. I think a lot of folks think that the county mayor is the one making decisions about business closures, safe at home orders, etc.

Unfortunately, my hands are pretty tied during all of this. Directives and orders come from the Governor’s office and state and local health departments. Sometimes mayors are taking credit or blame for those orders, but they aren’t issued under our authority, but rather under state law.

I have repeatedly said that when we look back at this crisis, it will be the economic and political damage that has the greatest impact the future of our country. Personally, I don’t think that any government official should have the authority to shutter businesses, order people to stay at home, or limit our civil liberties in any way unless you are accused of a crime or are a violation of a law or statute. Unfortunately, the law doesn’t appear to be in my favor in this situation.

Nevertheless, here we are. It’s good that we are reopening our economy. I’m grateful to everyone who is helping move us in the right direction, and we are ahead of many other places. To the extent that you are able and comfortable, please support our local small businesses. They are the backbone of our economy and ones who have been hurt the most during this economic crisis. At the same time, please remember that the flip side of personal liberty is personal responsibility.

Ultimately, if we are to keep our community health, it comes down to the decisions that each one of us makes. In this case, that means doing what public health experts are advising about personal hygiene and distancing.

May is nationally recognized as Mental Health Awareness Month. It is more important than it ever has been that we make a local commitment to supporting and learning about how mental health impacts us all. With this proclamation here, I am formally stating that we will observe Mental Health Awareness Month in Knox County.

At the beginning of each week throughout this month we will discuss a different mental health topic. I hope you will all join me so we can make mental health more of a priority in our community.

Read City USA is reached 301,000 hours read as a community. That is a full 12 times around the globe we’ve traveled through the pages of many, many books. We can easily complete the final 8 trips before the end of the year with your help. By downloading the Beanstack Tracker App, registering with your Knox County library card and logging your reading time either there in the app, online or on paper, you can join our flight.

Until next Friday, I hope everyone has a great week.