2022/01/14 - Mayor's Column: MLK Day and Snow in the Forecast
“AN OPEN DOOR TO O’FALLON”
A WEEKLY NOTE FROM MAYOR HERB ROACH
Monday, January 17th is the Commemoration of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. I hope that we can all give some time during this holiday and week to reflect on what Dr. King stood for.
While our country is fighting COVID, which is attacking all ages and all races, you might think that it would help pull us together as a country. But during this past year, we have seen so much more division and unnecessary destruction from coast to coast.
We have seen extremists on both sides of issues think that the only way to get their point across is to cause damage, have some sort of civil unrest, or engage in name calling. You might think that we could set personal differences aside to work together for the common good of all our citizens. Just as Dr. King preached while he was with us.
MLK didn’t preach for violence. No, he advocated for people to come together for peaceful approaches to some of society’s most serious problems.
So, is it any wonder why I think it is very important to remember and honor Dr. King and to follow his guiding principle of leading with peaceful and common-sense approaches to solving problems?
Wouldn’t it be nice if we could all encourage our political leaders to come together to overcome the harms of COVID and to correct the injustices and move our country forward by discussing differences and then working together for the betterment of all of us instead of creating further divisions.
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On another note, I want to make everyone aware that out of almost 100 zip codes in the Southwestern Illinois Region (7 counties), that our zip code (62269) is the only zip code to have over 22,000 vaccinated against COVID.
I should also point out that this represents over 69% of the population. Out of the 100 zip codes, only 5 have a higher percentage of vaccinations and all 5 of the others are very small zip codes. So small that the total vaccinations in all 5 together are less than 2,200 or 10% of our total vaccinated. The total region is 57% vaccinated.
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Lastly, because we may soon have snowfall in O’Fallon, I want to remind everyone to please remove vehicles and other obstructions from designated emergency snow routes so that snowplows may effectively treat the roadways. And, while driving, please give plenty of room to the plows on the roadway.
Here is a map of O'Fallon snow routes: https://ofallon.maps.arcgis.com/apps/View/index.html...
As a reminder: non-snow route Subdivision streets will only be addressed if snowfall accumulation exceeds depths of 4 inches or at the discretion of the Director of Public Works or his/her designee. You can view the City of O'Fallon's Snow and Ice Control Policy at https://www.ofallon.org/.../snow_and_ice_control_policy.pdf.
As residents of O’Fallon, you should always be able to reach out to your elected officials and ask questions about what is happening in O’Fallon. Having open communications is important to me and something I care very deeply about. Thank you for reading, and please remember, my door is always open.