Public Comments Gone Wild During San Angelo's City Council Meeting

SAN ANGELO, TX – The San Angelo City Council held their regular bi-weekly council meeting via zoom on Tuesday but those emailing or mailing in their public comments this week weren't very happy. 

The meeting started with Chaplain Dawkins leading the council in prayer. Then Mayor Brenda Gunter began reading this weeks public comments. 

The first comment came from a citizen from District 1. He started with "I appreciate Mayor Gunter's leadership and the steps taken to slow down COVID-19 in our community" then listed a number of questions for the council. 

1. What is the difference between the PCR and the Antigen test?
2. What numbers go into the positivity rate and how has that rate changed over time? 
3. What rate what classify a community as low spread?
4. With testing being a 7-10 day turnaround time, what is the councils recommendation for people who may need to get tested? 
5. Depending on the type of positive you get is there a different types of protocols to follow? 
6. What do public health officials need from the city council at this time? What do they need from the public? 

According to City Attorney Theresa James those questions plus more will be answered today at 3:30 p.m. when the City of San Angelo hosts a Q&A with local health authority Dr. James Vredis. 

Then comments shifted to the recent cancellations of outdoor events. The softball and baseball tournaments were called off by the City to help stop the spread of the virus. Mayor Gunter continued to read the comment on her "one-sided, uneducated decisions" as one public remark the mayor read stated.  At one point, the mayor was forced to read a portion of the misspelled comment.

After the comments, Mayor Gunter made an address on the current state of the city against the coronavirus. She said that if citizens care about each other, San Angelo restaurant owners, or hair dressers, then each San Angeloans must do his or her part.

"Community spread happens in your front yard, your back yard, your street, and your living room," said Mayor Brenda Gunter. "Going outside does not stop the spread. It also spreads at house parties, pool parties, backyard parties, and street parties." 

She also insisted that San Angelo and Tom Green County won't go into another shut down without direct orders from the Governer Greg Abbott. Mayor Gunter also warned that Tom Green County is considered red, or in the COVID-19 danger zone, due to the increase in new positive cases and the infection rate. For todays numbers click here. 

The mayor finished her address to the public with these words. "Remember, it is in your sanitized hands." 

For the full agenda click here.