Here’s the first of an occasional “Between Assignments” column from Dave Earling, who recently completed two terms as Edmonds mayor.

I say unsettling for a variety of reasons, not the least of which is watching the United States and its inability to think as one, and not acknowledging or understanding the magnitude of the health challenge brought to us by the coronavirus. Much of the challenge has been the indecisive leadership in Washington, D.C. We, of course, began as the “hot spot” in the country, But now virtually every state has been impacted and more and more of us have become aware of several towering, mind-numbing weaknesses coming from lack of timely leadership at the top.

Although most of us had no need to anticipate how unprepared the nation is equipped to deal strategically and/or structurally for combating  the epidemic, we all scratch our heads grappling with the enormity of the undertaking. We find the needs we have, from testing for the virus, to basic equipment to provide medical support, is not only short, but in many cases, unavailable. Most  disturbing to me is the lack of a plan to address the issue….and having to sort of “make it up” as we go.

 Without an agreed-upon plan, and at the same time the true lack of qualified elected national leadership from the President and his Administration, we were destined for floundering and chaos from the beginning…..and we were successful! 

I happen to believe that several months ago, when the virus problem became evident, we had experts such as Dr. Fauci and the CDC here at home who understood what was coming. Even though we didn’t necessarily have a plan, the experts were quick to respond. And yet with the lack of acknowledgment from the White House, we lost months of opportunity to take decisive action sooner. We had to endure the “hoax”, the lack of action, self evaluation by the President a couple of weeks ago in regards his leadership quality as a “10” and of course a reminder of the pronouncement recently of the “Chinese Virus”. If there were not for the CDC and other experts stepping forward to shine a light on the coming challenges, where would we be today?

Now here we are today (written on March 19) with a President who appears to finally concede we have a problem, which I am not yet convinced he fully grasps.  But, along with the help of the CDC and now the Congress, we begin to address the coronavirus and the resulting heath and economic fallout with a series of sweeping actions to provide support for our various nation’s needs.  

Yesterday the Senate approved and the President signed a bill of over $100 billion to boost funding for coronavirus testing and sick leave provisions for millions of workers. Today, negotiations on Trump’s economic plan to stabilize the country continues. It is anticipated to have a cost in excess of $1 trillion which would include dollars for direct payments to Americans, cash infusions to businesses to help keep workers on the payroll as well and major support for the airline industry.

So we have begun to take positive steps to correct shortages in virus testing funding and the shortfalls in needed equipment for the medical and hospital needs of the anticipated thousands who will need attention. Action taken yesterday by Congress as well as action hopefully taken in the next few days with the larger trillion dollar package will be helpful to begin to stabilize our current situation.

Now that we are beginning to understand how serious the problem we are confronting, hopefully the President, Congress and the American people, will work together to find compromise and solve problems……quickly.

On a separate note, Gov. Inslee has done an outstanding job, making the correct calls for our state as well as working closely with governors across the nation. Kudos to him.

The Edmonds mayor and council have done similar good work to keep the city in business as well as protecting city staff and citizens.

Former Edmonds Mayor Dave Earling is an educator and business owner. He and his wife Susan have three adult children and four grandchildren.