Are any doing a particularly good job (or bad) of responding to the virus based on what has happened and not what you think might happen?
Do mayors have the ability to enact the same kind of measure that a governor has?
Do governors have the ability to be more strict with those big cities ? Example: Could Gov Whitman have been quicker and “harder” on Detroit ?
Not sure about mayors, but here several counties began stay-at-home orders before the state of California did.
Dominantly no and yes, in that order. State constitutions can vary in ways that make treating them exactly the same tough.
The US is a federal republic with significant powers delegated directly to the states. As long as states are staying within the powers granted specifically to them and not violating universal provisions of the constitution they have significant authority to tell the federal government to fuck off. The state AGs doing it tend to use much nicer language in their legal filings when they do it though.
States tend to operate closer to being unitary goverments with wholly subordinate local/county governments. There are exceptions. Some states do give specific powers to local governments and operate more similarly to the federal republic model for nations. Sheriffs, as the directly elected law enforcement official, tend to have quite a bit of enforcement discretion and can choose to not enforce certain state laws.
You bring up an example of Michigan. Taking a step back that is a great example of a more unitary arrangement.Kwame Kilpatrick, a former Mayor of Detroit, got himself into quite a bit of legal trouble. The Detroit City Council tried to remove him from office. The courts denied that effort but said the governor did have that authority. Kilpatrick resigned before the governor could remove him as Mayor. In 2011 Michigan put Flint under state run emergency management to control their financial decisions. Since policy tends to involve spending money that incident was frequently described as a state takeover. In 2013 Detroit followed them into state control.
My governor has done a good job. He was shutting stuff down in a logical and timely manner. He started with larger venues and moved toward smaller ones. He’s worked closely with businesses dealing with innovative approaches and then on the federal side getting them approved. As an example, we have a company that put together a sterilizing chamber for masks so they can be reused. My state got some of equipment and the rest went to NY and WA.
As for cities the size of Detroit I’m not sure “Mayor” is much more than a title within the city managers. But a city of any size would be able to enact curfew laws and the such.
IMO, Gov. Sisolak has done a good job of keeping Nevadans safe. Not perfect, but a decent job nonetheless.
Dominantly no and yes, in that order. State constitutions can vary in ways that make treating them exactly the same tough.
The US is a federal republic with significant powers delegated directly to the states. As long as states are staying within the powers granted specifically to them and not violating universal provisions of the constitution they have significant authority to tell the federal government to fuck off. The state AGs doing it tend to use much nicer language in their legal filings when they do it though.
States tend to operate closer to being unitary goverments with wholly subordinate local/county governments. There are exceptions. Some states do give specific powers to local governments and operate more similarly to the federal republic model for nations. Sheriffs, as the directly elected law enforcement official, tend to have quite a bit of enforcement discretion and can choose to not enforce certain state laws.
You bring up an example of Michigan. Taking a step back that is a great example of a more unitary arrangement.Kwame Kilpatrick, a former Mayor of Detroit, got himself into quite a bit of legal trouble. The Detroit City Council tried to remove him from office. The courts denied that effort but said the governor did have that authority. Kilpatrick resigned before the governor could remove him as Mayor. In 2011 Michigan put Flint under state run emergency management to control their financial decisions. Since policy tends to involve spending money that incident was frequently described as a state takeover. In 2013 Detroit followed them into state control.
Did he shut down Cleveland any sooner than he did the more rural parts of the state?
I don’t know. Why do you ask?
Seems like it would have made sense; same with Whitmer and Detroit.
Possibly. If I remember correctly there were 3 deaths related to travel in that general area.
The governor first went after large venues, then universities, then k-12 schools then everything else in that order. The large venues were upset but I think the numbers have been good so far.
Texas has some weird power structures where County Judges can have power over Mayors, etc.
Dallas county judge Clay Jenkins has said Science will dictate the orders for Dallas county. At one point he actually said the issue was too important to let politicians decide, and would let the scientists guide his decisions. (Not sure of exact quote, but it was awesome)
I think he’s doing a remarkable job, and once he declared various lockdowns, the neighboring mayors all followed. It seemed like someone had to go first.
The distinction here is that Og. DeWine started with large gathering areas and worked towards smaller ones. I think not because there was any hope of avoiding the smaller venues, but because it spread the impact out. Stopping professional sports has less of a day-to-day impact then closing dine in restaurants or daycares.
As to the rural/urban question. Most universities were already closing without direction from the Gov. Even so, note the location of some of Ohio’s larger schools. They are in deeply rural areas. Ohio University in Athens has an enrollment of 29,000 in a very rural and very poor area. Bowling Green has 16,000 plus in what can not be called an urban hot bed. Essentially closing restaurants and bar is a move that impacts urban areas far more than rural.
By and large you find mayors acting where state government failed to do so. Because action needs to take place on a higher level. More to the point mayors may not have the full authority to act or be overridden by a state government. Ohio had a Governor who listened to his medical advisor and acted.
Trump called for regional openings the other day. Whitmer gave lip service in reaction but I doubt she is totally on board. She should have done regional closings.
With the attitude of the LV Mayor, that city better invest in increasing ICU beds and body bags before “thinking of the casinos.”;:rolleyes:
~VOW
Mayor Lightfoot in Chicago took the brave step of shutting down the St. Patrick’s Day festivities here, which is huge. She also appeared on television inarguably pissed off that she saw pople gathered closely in bars anyway. (And sharing cups. WTF?)
I think Gov. Pritzker is doing just what he can, and is being quite diplomatic about making sure to point out Federal incompetence with respect to requests for aid to Illinois without being drastic about it. It takes an adult to understand the time and the place.
Above should say “people”, if “pople” confused you.
Are they still partying in the streets of Chicago in defiance of her orders?
I haven’t heard of that.
There have been a couple of very well-circulated video clips of house parties (and in another case, an Orthodox Jewish wedding). I haven’t seen anything along those lines, but then I basically haven’t left my house in almost 2 months except for groceries and short walks to the park near our house (and never after dark).
It didn’t seem as if any cities were particularly “targeted” during the shutdown, as **Magiver **outlined. County health departments are pretty much where the buck stops as far as health directives, and as far as I can tell they are following the guidelines of the state (why wouldn’t you follow Dr. Acton?!)
I follow Cleveland’s Facebook page and the r/Cleveland subreddit and there hasn’t been hardly a mention of Cleveland or its mayor doing anything specific. I’ve heard a few “Where is Frank Jackson?” peeps.
Otherwise, we’re all just feeling the Buckeye Pride.