Former Mt Pocono Boro Council Member Tom Ford

MOUNT POCONO RESIDENTSCounty Waste has pulled its trucks off the road. If you were not picked up today, leave your cans out, they will pick up tomorrow.

In Reed v. Town of Gilbert, 135 S. Ct. 2218, 2226 (2015), the United States Supreme Court ruled that government actors - say, borough council presidents - viola...te the law when they take action against a citizen, say by tossing them out of a public meeting, because they don't like what they say. Such content-based or viewpoint-based restrictions are presumptively unconstitutional and may be justified only if the government proves that they are narrowly tailored to serve compelling state interests." They subject their municipality to penalties, injunctive relief, attorney fees, and costs. The individuals taking the illegal actions could also be personally responsible in monetary damages and to reimburse the municipality, or their insurance company, for their actions. Especially if taken after legal counsel warns them against it. Just some random nighttime reading since we unexpectedly had some extra time tonight.

You get the council you choose.

Today, the "Pocono" Chamber of Commerce sent out a press release saying the hospitality industry "continues being the target of the Wolf Administration’s mitigation tactics". Actually, the virus is the target of mitigation tactics. This isn't mere semantics. I support the goal -- to get better relief for the industry (of which I am a member). But such abuse of language is demagoguery used to politicize a public health crisis. It allows so many people to shrug as we approach... a quarter-million dead from the virus. It's why, with cases on the rise across the state and in Monroe County, Mount Pocono can just shrug and stuff too many people into a too-small room for too long, where council members routinely remove their masks, and where a third of the audience simply do not wear them, or wear them below the nose or as chin straps. Coolbaugh meetings are in an oversized room, with mandatory full-time mask-wearing and enforced social distancing. Tobyhanna and the school district are sticking with online meetings. Fun fact, Mount Pocono's total cases per capita would, if it were a country, place it above Italy & the UK. Kind of ironic that we have a council member who ran for higher office claiming to be the better choice to fight the virus, but who shrugs it off here at home. It's almost like they couldn't be bothered to care.