YPSILANTI, MI -- A discussion over whether to spend $50,000 on masks and gloves for Ypsilanti residents to protect themselves from COVID-19 ultimately failed during a video-conferenced Ypsilanti City Council meeting Tuesday night.

Council members debated for more than an hour over whether the funds were appropriate for the city to spend, given that Washtenaw County is distributing thousands of dollars worth of masks, bleach, soap and other hygienic and protective gear to the Ypsilanti community. The city and neighboring Ypsilanti Township have been hit disproportionately by the coronavirus pandemic -- about 47% of Washtenaw County’s 911 coronavirus cases are in residents of the 48197 and 48198 ZIP codes, according to the health department database Wednesday.

Several council members said they were unsure if the funds were the best way for City Council to help residents. Some said they didn’t want to divert valuable personal protection equipment from the state’s frontline workers during a supply chain shortage and worried residents would not be fully aware that reused equipment can become unsanitary and ineffective in fighting of the virus.

“In this time when we’ve got a shortage going on, to divert that to the public seems irresponsible to me at some point,” Councilman Steve Wilcoxen said. "I’m ambivalent, I’m not saying that’s totally the case. I’m ambivalent about this process because we do have a shortage.”

County Administrator Gregory Dill confirmed Thursday the county is distributing supplies to the Ypsilanti area through the Office of Community Economic Development. The county would likely spend more than $100,000 on the items for distribution based on continued need, Dill said.

Councilwoman Annie Somerville said she would rather wait to see how the city could help with equipment further into the crisis, or use funds to help residents in different ways, such as emergency rent relief funds for residents once the state-issued moratorium on evictions expires.

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“We have limited resources and it’s important we focus on things that haven’t already been hit on," Somverville said. "One of those things is what are people going to do when the eviction moratorium are up? How can we best help people in that area?”

Wilcoxen also said he worried the amount spent was too dependent on the potential to receive grant funding from organizations and federal agencies such as the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which could reimburse up to 75% of the cost.

“We’d be in a very, very long line to get any reimbursement for this back and the chances for this are unknown at this point,” Wilcoxen said.

“I have one word for my trust in FEMA giving anything back to people and that’s ‘Katrina,’" he continued, referring to the agency’s response to Hurricane Katrina in 2005. “I don’t trust FEMA as far as I can throw.”

Among the proposal’s most strong supporters were Mayor Beth Bashert, Councilman Anthony Morgan and Mayor Pro Tem Lois Richardson. The three said they wanted to help residents at some level by providing them with a resource they may not have.

“I am mortified that people in my community are getting sick and dying simply because they’re too poor to get the equipment," Bashert said. "I talked to a woman that turned a bra cup into a face mask, people.”

Somerville unsuccessfully proposed to postpone voting on the funding until the May 19 City Council meeting. That vote failed 3-4, with Bashert, Richardson, Morgan and Councilwoman Nicole Brown voting no.

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Councilmembers then discussed lowering the amount after several noted that $50,000 was a significant value that could replicate work being done at the county level.

After Brown noted that a mask could cost $5 each, Richardson proposed an amendment of $5,000 to purchase only masks that could renew automatically when funds run out in case the stockpile was quickly distributed.

Councilwoman Jennifer Symanns recommended a renewal cap of one but Richardson declined the friendly amendment, instead adjusting her amendment proposal to three renewal but it failed, 3-4. Symanns, Wilcoxen, Brown and Somerville voted no.

Symanns then proposed an amendment to instead authorize $5,000 to purchase masks, that could be renewed once before returning to Council for additional approval. The amendment passed, 5-2, with Wilcoxen and Morgan against.

But Council ultimately defeated the proposal even after reducing the funds to a maximum of $10,000 before it could return to public officials. It failed 3-4: Bashert, Brown and Richardson voted in favor of the proposal; Symanns, Wilcoxen, Morgan and Somerville voted against.

“I think that the consensus is that educational materials and just trying to get poor people living in our ZIP codes to engage in safe behavior is the most important thing we could possibly do," Bashert said. "And in my opinion, we just missed an opportunity here.”

“We blew it," Morgan replied.

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