Please, local businesses, use masks — for your patrons and for your community

A citizen contacted me last week about a concern that several downtown retailers were not wearing masks in their stores and were not asking patrons to wear masks when shopping in their store.
The citizen was concerned for personal health reasons, but the information concerned me on a much broader level.
The city of Luverne — its council and its staff members — worked quickly and furiously to allocate $355,000 in federal CARES Act funds to local businesses as soon as we were able.
That’s not the point, though. It’s what we do as public servants, and we’re proud of what we do for the citizens we work for.
But as United States citizens and Minnesota residents we are all taxpayers supporting this effort to help our local businesses suffering under the pandemic economy. We want them to do well. Why wouldn’t they want us as patrons to do well also?
By this point in the pandemic “game,” most everyone has figured out that masks do help control aerosol viruses, and at the very least it’s a courtesy to others to wear them and ask our patrons to do the same.
On a more local level of economic aid, our amazing Rock Solid Program helped sell $256,000 in gift cards to local businesses – think about all the people and generosity that went into that program.
Please return the favor by using masks in your businesses. It’s a small favor, considering the outpouring of local support.
Further, the Luverne City Council helped out in May by granting 79 businesses (including these same downtown retailers who aren’t using masks) with $100,000 of utility payment relief.
The concerned citizen asked why we aren’t enforcing masks under the governor’s “mask mandate.”
Out of curiosity, I checked with other cities in Minnesota our size to see what they were doing.
Truth be told, mask wearing is a matter of courtesy and respect for everyone around us. It’s not the sort of thing city leaders should be asked to enforce.
But along the way, I did find out that many cities have done very little for their businesses by way of economic relief. Even CARES Act funds were used for public safety programs, not for economic relief.
We — meaning taxpayers in the community — have gone out of our way to help our local businesses.
Because why?
Because what’s good for our businesses is good for all of us. “We all do better when we all do better,” to quote the late Paul Wellstone.
So, please, business owners, managers and leaders, wear masks and ask your patrons to do the same.