At the November 3 Fillmore County Board meeting the peacetime State of Emergency for continuing operations for COVID-19 was extended through December 1. The extension of the State of Emergency allows the county to continue telecommuting. It provides links to COVID related funding.
County Administrator Bobbie Hillery commented that COVID is not going away, “There were 45 new cases this last week.”
During the citizens input portion of the meeting, Darin Swartzentruber called in to question the State of Emergency declaration, saying, “From what I understand, there is a pretty low percent in the rate of infections in the county.” Chairman Marc Prestby explained to him that the county is just extending the declaration that has been in effect since last spring.
Hillery brought up a discussion concerning telecommuting. Some staff have requested monitors and chairs at home where they are working. Commissioner Duane Bakke felt it is premature to order more equipment. How much telecommuting are we going to do post-COVID? Commissioner Mitch Lentz said he very much supported working from home, but didn’t feel the county should be furnishing home offices. Staff that have remote offices should be responsible for providing themselves with chairs that conform to ergonomic guidelines.
Hillery then wanted to get the board’s input on squad car technology additions. She was talking about the possible purchase of additional “tough books” with CARES funding so part-time officers would have their own tough book. At this time part-time officers have the ability to log into another’s computer. With the purchase of additional tough books they will not be passed around. Commissioner Randy Dahl maintained this is a valid CARES purchase. There seemed to be a consensus that each tough book should stay with one officer. Hillery said she will bring bids back to the next meeting.
Issues with today’s election were discussed. Hillery said Public Health had received four complaints about staff not always wearing their masks. She said when a staff person comes up to the counter, masks are always worn. It has been crazy busy the last couple of weeks. Many departments are helping with the election.
Yesterday, November 2, was the last day a resident could get an absentee ballot. The ruling by the Supreme Court, that only allows ballots to be counted that are received by 8 p.m. November 3, was discussed. The ruling came out last week after this paper went to press, making information outdated in the paper dated November 2.
Bakke noted that a ballot that was post marked last Wednesday and that doesn’t arrive before tonight will not be counted. “That is wrong.” When it was mailed the voter assumed it would surely be postmarked before November 3 and counted if it arrived by November 10. With the ruling late last week made after the ballot was mailed, the ballot will only be counted if it arrives on or before November 3. Ballots that come in after November 3 will now be kept in a separate category and not counted at this point. There will likely be more court action. Prestby called it a “bad deal” when three to four days before the election the goal posts are moved.
Hillery reported that as of this morning 3,258 absentee ballots were sent out and 2,897 have been returned. A total of 3,294 mail in ballots were sent out and 2,343 have been returned. Many of those not yet returned as of early this morning will likely come in today or be hand delivered today. Many have come in to feed those ballots into the machine themselves. Prestby thanked county staff for all their hard work for the election.
Dahl, who works for the postal service, said this has been a nasty campaign season, referring to political advertising sent through the mail. He added that ballots have been treated like priority mail.
The Association of Minnesota Counties District 9 meeting held on November 2 was discussed. Legislative priorities were discussed. Bakke said transportation is always on top. He made a point of discussing public health, “We can finally get back to normal when a vaccine for COVID is in place. It is important to educate people to let them know the vaccine is safe and then we have to be able
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