Governor Mike Dunleavy’s office announced on Monday that his travel schedule for the week has changed, suspending his community visits and planned town hall meetings in Kenai, Seward, and Homer until further notice. That includes a suspension of Monday night’s planned Conversations With Alaskans town hall meeting at Kenai Central High School.
According to a statement released by the Governor’s office, his travel schedule has been halted to allow the Governor to remain closely connected to federal and local partners while monitoring updates in the COVID-19 coronavirus. The statement adds: “We plan to continue these important conversations with local governments, school districts, businesses, tribes, and non-profits around Alaska by telephonic means, as well as Facebook town halls, until such time as we can resume travel to communities.”
The Governor was also scheduled to speak at a joint Kenai / Soldotna chamber luncheon at the Soldotna Regional Sports Complex on Monday at noon. His statements to the chamber were instead delivered via telephone. The press release notifying the public about the Governor’s change-in-schedule came at 12:36 p.m., well-after the chamber luncheon’s seats had already been packed.
His phone message primarily addressed COVID-19, saying that the state has the situation under control, advising Alaskans to wash hands and to take even more special care if older or in ill health. He also said that he’s bullish on Alaska despite the coronavirus’ impact on oil prices, as the state has the advantage of letting other ports of call figure out best-practices before Alaska acts. According to the Governor, there’s no reason to panic.
Stay with KSRM for more details on when the Governor’s community meetings on the peninsula will be rescheduled.
