Todd Kamenesh delivered a nice introduction to our speaker today – Kent City Manager, Dave Ruller, who has prepared remarks on how the pandemic has affected the city.
To the surprise of no one, Dave stated that the city was not immune to the effects of the pandemic. Approximately 50% of the city’s workforce was either diagnosed or has COVID. Many businesses have been hurt with a number of pandemic-induced closures.
For all of the bad, Dave believes the city is better for the experience. In a way, the city has become an ecosystem of sorts – provoking various departments to learn how to work differently by working smarter. A “unified command model” has led to better coordination of department duties, as well as developing a healthy reliance on each other. Words such as “collaboration”, “cooperation” and “leadership” served as a rallying cry to leave no stone unturned and to seek and invite creative solutions. As Dave opined…”it is open season on good ideas.”
