Mayor Dan Pope Discusses City Budget and More During Covid-19
Wednesday on KFYO Mornings with Dave King and Matt Martin, Mayor Dan Pope joined Dave and Matt to talk about how the city of Lubbock and West Texas are handling the Covid-19 pandemic.
Mayor Pope started the discussion by saying, "Things are going ok. We are in uncharted waters and we try our best every day to make the decisions that, first and foremost, provide for the safety of our citizens." This came after a day where Lubbock had more recoveries than new cases. Mayor Pope says that this is a positive, but calculating this result is far from an exact science. He explained that their ability to figure it out is due to phone follow ups from Lubbock's medical professionals, as well as investigations. Pope went on to say that Lubbock will continue to make decisions based on the data that we have, both on the local and state level.
Pope was also asked about the impact he thinks this will have on our economy. The Mayor said that he thinks it will have a huge, unprecedented impact. He explained that they are putting plans into place to tighten things down, as well as repositioning part time labor. He went on to say, "right now we're trying to continue to provide the services that our citizens pay for and expect from us."
Mayor Pope went on to discuss the city budget. The City of Lubbock is currently in budgeting season, and the city council are discussing what they should be cutting, but Mayor Pope says that he thinks we will see a more significant impact on next year's budget. When asked where he would make cuts as far as the city is concerned, as well as if there would be any pay cuts, Pope said, "Well, I think when you look at having to make cuts, everything is on the table," going on to say, "everything is in play, I'm not singling layoffs...the good news about that, for our citizens, is we have to do that work in the light of day."
Watch the full interview with Mayor Dan Pope in the video above.
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