ST. PETERSBURG — Mayor Rick Kriseman on Monday unveiled guidelines his administration created to encourage residents and businesses to be good citizens.
Kriseman first mentioned the guidelines, branded "The St. Pete Way,” last week during his weekly Facebook Live update on the city’s response to the coronavirus. While not official enforceable government orders, the 13-page document offers ways folks can stay healthy and prevent the spread of COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, while the city and state begin to reopen. It also offered suggestions businesses can take to survive.
“Our residents and business owners are being inundated with daily directives and announcements from every level of government," Kriseman said in a statement to reporters. "While these are important and must be heeded, the most effective way of finding our way out of this public health crisis is by taking personal responsibility and simply doing the right thing for yourself, your loved ones, and your neighbors. That’s what The St. Pete Way is all about. That’s what St. Pete is all about.”
The St. Pete Way document includes five things residents can do: wash their hands for 20 seconds, social distance and wear a mask, sanitize frequently-touched surfaces and even cell phones, make healthy choices and be kind to one another.
For businesses, the St. Pete Way suggests restaurant employees should wear masks, hand sanitizer should be available and restaurants that don’t take reservations should adopt a system in order to limit mingling crowds. It also said it’s all right for businesses that may be allowed to reopen under government orders to do so at their own pace, and reminded small businesses of the city’s grant program, the Fighting Chance Fund.
It also encouraged businesses to “reimagine" themselves and to be flexible and collaborative. And, to source locally when possible to help other local businesses.
To read the entire St. Pete Way document, click here.
Also on Monday, the city reopened athletic courts, dog parks and skate parks.
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