OSWEGO – March 11 marks the one year anniversary of COVID-19 being declared a pandemic in the U.S. Oswego County Legislature Chairman James Weatherup spoke about the impact this past year had on residents during his State of the County address at the County Legislature meeting, yesterday, March 11.
The Chairman began the meeting addressing the body with an overview of what the county has accomplished throughout the past year in the midst of a lockdown. He spoke of the courage, kindness and resiliency residents showed towards each other, encouraging people to remember not the negative, but the positive elements that came from enduring a global pandemic.
Following is an excerpt of Chairman James Weatherup’s State of the County Address:
“Good afternoon and welcome!
I would like to start my remarks today by asking you to join me in a moment of silence as we remember all those that we have lost over this past year. A year certainly unlike any other we have endured.
Thank you.
Exactly one year ago today, the World Health Organization declared that the COVID-19 virus had created a worldwide public health emergency. The very next day, I stood here before you to deliver this annual message, a message that is typically the Chairman’s assessment of where we are as a County and as a community.
Historically, the Chairman would bore the daylights out of most of you with reports of progress over the previous year and then try desperately to inspire you with hopeful expectations of the good things to come in the current business year.
But last year was not your typical year. Instead, I opened my remarks with a reference to something that very few of us knew anything about, the Coronvirus. At that time, only six days had passed since the Governor issued an Executive Order declaring a statewide health emergency. None of us knew what to expect next, and I urged you all to be calm and vigilant in your efforts to take preventative measures and to avoid exposing yourself or others to the virus; a message that I have continued to share with you each-and-every week since.
I closed that short opening paragraph before moving on the usual reporting of county government activities by asking you to do your part, and to follow, the advice of medical professionals. And I assured you at that time that if we did, we would all come through this with minimal impact to our lives and communities. As it turned out, that was not one of my more prophetic moments.
We all know what happened next, so I won’t burden you with a play-by-play recap of a year that most of us would like to forget. I would however, like to remind you of what I think was the most important development to come out of this life altering event.
When I think back about all that has occurred since I last stood here to address you, I am reminded of the words of Vince Lombardi hen he said, “The price of success is hard work, dedication to the job at hand, and the determination that whether we win or lose, we have applied the best of ourselves to the task at hand.”
As I stand here today, there is no question in my mind that we embodied Coach Lombardi’s thoughts. As a county, and as a community, we came together, determined to do our best, and in some cases, even beyond.
From every corner of our 1,000 square miles, friends, neighbors and strangers, young and old, rich and poor, people we had never even met before stepped up to help those in need. Businesses large and small reorganized, re-tooled and chipped in to find solutions, not just for local needs, but in some cases, to meet the pressing worldwide demands that continued to grow under a once in a century public health crisis.
I encourage each of you to remember the year 2020 not as the year when schools and businesses were suddenly closed with no real plans as to what would come next – or the year when your prom, your sports season , your wedding or any one of the hundreds of other things that we have always taken for granted as everyday life were no longer an option for you.
Instead, as hard as it may be, I challenge you to remember 2020 as the year when your neighbors, men, women, and in some cases children, cooked for people they didn’t even know;[or] when they sewed masks and other protective clothing for our doctors, nurses and first responders – who day by day at their own peril, stood on the front lines doing whatever needed to be done to serve and protect the rest of us from the scourge that was upon us.
Remember it as the year when we came together as a community while under orders to individually stay apart. Remember it as the year when in reality, in your soul [and] in your heart, the things you gained out-weighed the things you missed. The pandemic has brought us closer. Neighbors, friends and families built, strengthened, and renewed relationships as frustration and uncertainty threatened to leave us despondent.
While our students, our parents, our business community and others continue to struggle with the changes and challenges we have to face, we now find ourselves facing them together, supporting each other in ways like never before.
As awful as it has been, in many ways we are better now than we were before , and we should recognize that as we continue to work together to rebuild and reignite our local economy.”
The Chairman went on to discuss issues the legislature is currently working on to improve the county’s growth over the next year, including water and wastewater concerns and the need for adequate broadband service throughout the county.
Weatherup said the need for consistent broadband is an especially troubling issue throughout the county with increasing demands for remote learning, business and health services online.
The county is currently partnering with the Central New York Regional Planning and Development Board to identify the needs for broadband improvements while seeking to access funds to address the issue.
The legislator also addressed the change in law enforcement reform, thanking Sheriff Don Hilton and his team as they work together to improve Oswego County’s safety and wellbeing.
Weatherup concluded his message with confidence as passage of the COVID Relief Bill moves forward, looking to the county’s future with hope and resiliency.
“Now is the time to focus on strengthening and diversifying our business community through strategic investments in critical infrastructure that will subsequently inspire growth throughout the county,” Weatherup said. “2021 will undoubtedly be a better year than 2020; how could it not be? We still have challenges before us, but I have no doubt that we will continue to recognize that we are all in this together, a phrase echoed throughout these last 12 months – a phrase that still rings true and one that inspires a sense of unity, teamwork and collaboration.”
After the address, the legislature voted and passed all resolutions set forth on yesterday’s agenda. To view the March 11 agenda, please click here.
All Oswego County Legislature meetings are held the second Thursday of every month. The next meeting will be held on April 15 at 7 p.m. at the County Building located at 46 E. Bridge St. in Oswego.
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