April 01, 2020
Businesses have always experienced pressures and disruptions, but this global pandemic will show just how resilient the DUKE Heights community really is.
Dear Neighbours,
It feels like just yesterday that I was sharing with you the exciting improvements coming to the DUKE Heights community. From infrastructure upgrades to Bikeshare pilots, these improvements, as important and as they are, can now no longer be our sole focus going forward. Residents and businesses in our community, like many in various communities in our city and around the country, now face a new challenge, one that I am confident the DUKE Heights community will overcome.
Though COVID-19 has presented a considerable challenge to our communities and businesses, we must all work together during this time to protect our families, colleagues and loved ones, especially those who are most vulnerable, such as seniors and those who are immunocompromised. I know that many businesses in Duke Heights rely on the steady flow of goods in and out of the area. While some businesses have been able to continue operating at normal capacity, all businesses will in some way feel the effects of this pandemic, whether it be through supply chains, customers practicing social distancing and refraining from non-essential purchases to maintaining productivity with employees working home.
I want to assure you that city staff from all divisions are working tirelessly to ensure the health and safety of residents, employees and businesses across this city, and that our local government has assembled a COVID-19 Task Force, as well as an Economic Support and Recovery Task Force composed of key staff and agencies working to maintain public safety, slow the spread of this virus and get our economy back on track.
I would like to let you know that my staff and I are here for you, to help with whatever you might need in any way that we can. This challenge is unlike any our community has faced. We have been put in this challenge together, and we will get through it together.
Sincerely,
City Councillor James Pasternak
Ward 6 – York Centre
