Gov. Inslee addressed us on TV on May 1 about his four-phase plan to reopen businesses by eliminating restrictions. Not a bit too soon. Grays Harbor County could open even earlier because of the low virus numbers.

Much to my surprise, on May 2, The Daily World carried a statement written by Ocean Shores Mayor Crystal Dingler concerning all sorts of new requirements, including mandatory wearing of face masks and extending the stay at home rule. A doctor recently commented on the effectiveness of the mask. He said that 70% of the air coming into the mouth came in from the sides of the mask while 30% was actually filtered by the mask.

It’s time to take our town back from the politicians. It seems like our current government wants to extend the closures of businesses indefinitely. I would like to attend church services. I trust God much more than politicians. I need a haircut badly. My wife said if it gets any longer she will require ID before letting me in the house. I would love to have a nice sit down dinner at a local restaurant with my wife. I would like to go to the beach. Because I am handicapped, I don’t have the ability to get there. Hundreds of people walk to it every day. I was at the beach the weekend before the closures. There were a lot of people there. Everyone was keeping a safe distance from each other.

The mayor and council should use a little more common sense in managing our city. We are on a path to little or no business surviving this virus emergency. I urge the council to reject the mayor’s plan and develop a new one that will open our town up for business as usual quickly. I guess we always have the recall as an option if our leaders won’t listen to us!

Leon Cooke

Ocean Shores