Navigating through the current state of emergency has been a fluid process, according to Derby City Attorney Jacque Butler.
“We are responding as quickly as possible to this,” Butler said.
Measures of response to the coronavirus pandemic are changing daily, though, if not hourly. Considering that, Butler brought a resolution before the Derby City Council March 24 to help in those efforts.
Butler noted that while many municipalities have emergency powers built into their city codes, Derby does not. When an emergency is declared (as was the case in Sedgwick County as of March 16), those emergency powers are then granted to city administration to handle day-to-day operations in a broader scope.
The resolution Butler brought forward at the council’s most recent meeting would grant emergency authority to City Manager Kathy Sexton to close city facilities or suspend city operations; amend, extend or suspend policies and procedures … in response to COVID-19.
Under the resolution, the city council would still retain oversight over the city manager’s actions (as is currently the case), but it could allow Sexton the opportunity to take more immediate action and not have to wait for council approval on each individual decision. Currently, there are exemptions to that process, but they are allowed more on a case by case basis.(Read more: Derby News | derbyinformer.com)
