The words no one wanted to hear: Shutdown… again.

People are struggling, businesses are fighting to survive, and everyone is exhausted of trying to find silver linings and making the best of an extremely challenging situation. However, the reality of this shutdown is that if we want businesses and residents to adhere to these new guidelines, the federal government needs to step up and provide substantive relief to help keep our families and our communities afloat.

As some of you know, Congressman Fitzpatrick and I have been working together over the last two years to try and address the challenges that exist in the Lansdale Post Office. In that time, we have met with multiple representatives of the post office oversight team and the leadership in the local post office to discuss how to improve delivery in our area and to better understand the full scope of the challenge our post office faces. In this process, we have realized that one of the key issues relates directly to the level of staffing in our post office and the inability to hire enough staff to fully deliver the mail on-time and accurately everyday across the entire borough.

After a challenging Thanksgiving week where we all were asked to remain distant from our family and friends I would like to personally thank everyone who took that request seriously and changed their family gathering plans to help manage the pandemic.

Typically, around this time of year we would all begin to organize and plan for the festive holidays to come. Sadly, for many, the pandemic is going to keep us from enjoying even the simple pleasures of spending time with family during Thanksgiving. Dinners may be smaller, laughter may be less hearty, and virtual hugs might be necessary, but we cannot let the pandemic defeat our resolve and our united spirit. We must continue to work for the better tomorrow that will come so long as we remain vigilant in our collective management of the pandemic.

This upcoming holiday season is going to be one of the most delivery/mail dependent holiday seasons we have seen due to the ongoing pandemic. Families are going to be shipping packages all over the world to help celebrate these festive seasons and it is helpful to have someone looking out for those packages.

Now that the 2020 election is behind us, we can begin the process of coming together and continuing to work on rebuilding our community as we manage the ongoing health crisis, the economic downturn brought on by the pandemic, and the need to continue to invest in our infrastructure and ourselves.

It has been a long lead up to Nov. 3 and I know many are sick and tired of hearing all the rhetoric from candidates, friends and family members. However, tomorrow is a critical moment in our nation, and it is worth pausing and acknowledging the importance of the decisions that each one of us is responsible for making this year.

Let us dispel with the obvious first: Halloween is not cancelled. If parents and kids want to participate in Halloween, they are welcome to participate in whatever way makes them feel most comfortable. However, there are a few important notes and suggestions that need to be kept in mind this year, because we are still in the midst of a serious pandemic that has not — and is not — going away within the next few days or even the next few months.

The good news on the budget is that it looks very likely that taxes and electric rates will not be increasing. Spending looks to remain flat across the borough into 2021. This past year has been a budgeting challenge as the pandemic has ebbed and flowed through our community. Thankfully, financially, we have been able to keep most line items within the budget. However, there is one line item that will continue to be a challenge for years to come…the cost of buying electric.

One of the great parts of being Mayor is that I often come into contact with people who are willing to share our community’s rich history with me and their first person perspectives of how the community has changed over time.

It would be an understatement to say this topic is not an easy one to wade into right now. Residents are stuck at home, or working from home, with nowhere to park their car while businesses are fighting for their very survival relying heavily on pick up. This is creating a competition for parking that is not typically seen in a normal year.

As many of you are aware, voting this fall will be different due to the pandemic. Due to our current reality, voters have several options on how to cast their ballots. As we near the election, I wanted to outline them here so that everyone can update themselves on where they can vote and how they can vote while ensuring that their vote counts.

This past weekend, our country lost more than just a Supreme Court Justice; we lost a visionary, a thought leader and a patriot. Ruth Bader Ginsburg, at her passing, had served 27 years on our Supreme Court.

Sed ut perspiciatis unde omnis iste natus error sit voluptatem accusantium doloremque laudantium.

Last week, one of our Lansdale Police Officers was subjected to the bigoted rantings of a resident in need. The officers, who performed their job with absolute distinction and grace, continued to try and administer aide to this individual despite the continued onslaught of racist epitaphs and threats.

As a community, we stand on the verge of an important step forward for our police department. This week, council will be entertaining — and hopefully passing — the opportunity to improve our Lansdale Borough Police Department through the addition of body worn cameras.