MADISON, Wis. (SPECTRUM NEWS) – Dane County began phase one of a plan to reopen restaurants, gyms, and local shops Tuesday but some local officials in the Madison area are raising concerns—saying they are not ready.

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12 members from the Madison Common Council and Dane County Board of Supervisors sent a letter to Madison's mayor, the Dane County Executive, and the local health department (PHMDC) Monday raising concerns about letting businesses open back up Tuesday.

Analiese Eicher is the chair of the Dane County Board of Supervisors. She's confident about the science-based approach Dane County is taking and trusts the health department's decision to move forward.

“We are attempting to communicate the best information as possible to the folks in our community,” Eicher said. “Having questions raised at such a late hour prior to phase one of opening back up does not lend itself to accurate information.”

Eicher questions the timing of the letter and said local elected officials had since May 18 when the health department released the Forward Dane plan to raise concerns.

“I think there are incredibly valid questions in the letter that were raised, you know there are questions that a lot of us have been asking from the beginning and will probably continue to ask as we navigate how this is going to play out in our community, but I do think that there are other ways of going about getting these questions answered.”

However, those who signed the letter said they didn't find out until Friday afternoon that Dane County and Madison would actually move forward with phase one.
 

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Dane County Supervisor Heidi Wegleitner represents District 2 and was one of the local officials who signed onto Monday's letter. She says decisions are being made at the executive level with policymakers finding out after the fact.

“The Board of Public Health has not met to talk about the COVID response and that would be a place where this is a forum for the public to give input, for county supervisors or city alders to attend,” Wegleitner said.

The letter states the Forward Dane plan lacks details about increased contact tracing and case management that's needed for the broad re-opening of all businesses.

23% of new cases in the last two weeks had no identified source, according to the letter, which some county supervisors argue shows community spread is not under control.

“This virus is, you know, is not under control, and while we may have hospital beds, that doesn't mean we have, you know, the public health capacity to really contain this and to reopen our economy without these things, to me, makes it seem like it's going to get worse,” Wegleitner said.

Though alders and supervisors ultimately want to see businesses safely reopen, they hope phase one of the plan doesn't send the wrong message about the risk of gathering at indoor spaces like salons, gyms, and churches.