Responding as a Community to COVID-19

Southern Alberta Council on Public Affairs (SACPA)

The City of Lethbridge implemented a local state of emergency on March 18, 2020 and is working with community partners to identify areas of need for the community during the COVID 19 pandemic. 16 subcommittees have been formed to address and support the community while this crisis is unfolding. Action taken so far include working closely with Alberta Health Services and the agencies that serve our vulnerable populations to ensure these groups have the needed housing, health care and other supports they require. Other measures include free transit, 90 day utility payment deferrals and property tax options. All City facilities, including City Hall, Fire Stations, Lethbridge Transit, all recreation and culture facilities (pools, arenas, Lethbridge Public Library branches, Galt Museum and the Helen Schuler Nature Centre) are closed to the public until further notice. Lethbridge Police Service have closed public access to their building until further notice as have Lethbridge Animal Shelter. The speaker will unpack many of the safety steps that have been made to address this dangerous pandemic and whether or not more measures may be needed. Speaker: Chris Spearman, Mayor of Lethbridge Along with 38 years of business experience, Chris Spearman devoted 18 years (1992-2010) to serving on the Holy Spirit School Board which included two terms as Board Chair. He is a founding member of the Industrial Association of Southern Alberta, established in 1983. Chris is passionate about environmental issues, supports practical solutions and believes in continuous improvement. His employment experience includes 10 years working with the ISO 14001 Environmental Management System and 13 years with ISO 9002 Quality Systems. Chris was a member of the Lethbridge Chamber of Commerce since 2008 and served on several sub-committees. In addition, he served five years (2008-2013) on University of Lethbridge Faculty of Management Advisory Committee. From 2010 to 2013 he served as a board member for the Aboriginal Housing Society. Chris has also volunteered with several other community organizations including Economic Development Lethbridge (a founding member) and the Rehabilitation Society of Southwestern Alberta (now known as the Ability Resource Centre). Date and time: Thursday, April 9, 2020 at 10 am YouTube Live link: https://youtu.be/s8zuiIKU9Nw In order to ask questions of our speaker in the chat feature of YouTube, you must have a YouTube account and be signed in. Please do so well ahead of the scheduled start time, so you’ll be ready. Go the YouTube Live link provided in this session flyer and on the top right of your browser click the “sign in” button. If you have Google or Gmail accounts, they can be used to sign in. If you don’t, click “Create Account” and follow along. Once you are signed in, you can return to the live stream and use the chat feature to ask your questions of the speaker. Remember you can only participate in the chat feature while we are livestreaming.