A couple weeks ago, the League City Turnaround Taskforce—a group of residents, business owners and city leaders promoting economic recovery during the coronavirus outbreak—created a workplace protection pledge local businesses can take to encourage the community to be responsible when it comes to managing what has become a global pandemic. So far, about 60 businesses have taken the pledge, said Scott Livingston, the city's economic development director and a task force member.
"This is a pledge that businesses can voluntarily take to show they are adopting safe practices that will benefit their employees, their businesses and their customers, which are ... the citizens of League City," Livingston said. “We’re trying to undergird and support and promote our local businesses—the ones that are being safe.”
The pledge states those who take it will stay informed of the latest recommended health and safety guidelines, sanitize facilities frequently, provide personal protective equipment and sanitation tools to staff, and take any necessary steps to protect residents. Those who take the pledge are given a poster and a yard sign that can be displayed showing their public commitment, Livingston said.
"We want to highlight the businesses that are making a commitment ... to make it a safe place for citizens so we can mitigate the spread of COVID-19," he said.
Residents can also take a similar pledge to practice social distancing, wash their hands, wear masks and more. The city encouraged residents who take the pledge to share their commitment on social media.
Additionally, the task force has created "The League City Promise," which is a list of goals to return to normal as the pandemic continues until a vaccine is developed. The promise includes making sure businesses and organizations are ready to respond to the pandemic, residents are supportive of each other and businesses, and the community is compassionate toward the vulnerable and COVID-19 hot spots, Livingston said.
The task force has also put together a website dedicated to providing resources and information related to COVID-19. Residents and businesses can use http://leaguecity.com/taskforce to find out the governor's latest recommendations for handling the coronavirus, how to protect yourself and others from COVID-19, and more, Livingston said.
"We’ve just done all the legwork to make it easy for people to find the information in real time so they can be informed," he said.
The goal of the task force, the pledges and the promise is to avoid another economic shutdown that would devastate the community. Instead, local leaders want the city to be smart and proactive to allow residents businesses to coexist somewhat normally with COVID-19 until a vaccine is developed, Livingston said.
In League City, residents and businesses value personal responsibility, which is why the city is looking for voluntary compliance with pledges.
"We know we need people to want to do the right thing," Livingston said.
So far, the task force believes its efforts are making a difference. Galveston County is seeing about 10 new cases daily, which is a manageable number, Livingston said.
“We believe it is working," he said. "If we can keep that during the course of this summer, I personally will be really happy.”
