During the pandemic we have been waiting for County Commissioner Joe Gale, the lone Republican on the Board of Commissioners, to question decisions being made by the county and state. Until yesterday, at least during the almost daily press conferences, Gale has towed the line and focused on issues involving taxes and businesses impacted by the pandemic.

During yesterday’s regular county press conference, Gale questioned the decision to not provide American flags to veterans groups to place at cemeteries for Memorial Day. His fellow commissioners, Dr. Val Arkoosh and Ken Lawrence, Jr., voted to not provide the flags due to concerns over the ability to safely place them during the pandemic. Instead, the county will wait to provide the flags for July 4th.

Gale went on to argue for a common-sense approach to dealing with the pandemic. He referenced that Delaware County and Bucks County had approached the governor to not include data from long-term care facilities within the formula to reopen the county. Arkoosh believes the data from the long-term care facilities should be included because staff members return home and back into the community each day and the potential impact on hospitals when long-term care facility residents require hospitalization.

He also went on to stress that the focus of the response to the virus should be long-term care facilities because that is where the majority of deaths are occurring. Gale stated that the county is having to do work that is the state’s responsibility.

Let us know what you think in the comments.