Suzanne Brennan, the Republican candidate for Mayor of Howell Township, issued the following statement in support of restaurants opening for indoor dining on June 15:
The COVID-19 pandemic has had an impact on every New Jersey resident. As such, I fully support all responsible measures necessary to protect our residents during the pandemic. That being said, we simply must advance solutions that allow for the safe re-opening of our state on a clear and more accelerated basis. Governor Murphy’s actions to date have been slow and ineffective; we lack crucial details about how and when we will get NJ back online. Among the many more disappointing aspects of the Governor’s response has been his decision to prohibit high school graduations. While we must protect against unmanaged large gatherings, there is no question we that can design safe and efficient solutions to allow for graduation ceremonies. Our high school seniors deserve this.
Toward that end, I am calling on the Governor to set up a state-wide task force of education and school business leaders to design Guidelines for Safe Graduation Ceremonies (“Guidelines”). While we have been given a glimmer of hope that there “may” be graduations in late July, we need to work hard now to ensure that this will become a reality and not an empty promise. Below is a suggested preliminary outline for the task force and certain items for consideration: