Ste. Genevieve Mayor Hassler: ‘We’re All In This Together’ While Emphasizing Safety Measures

Although the shutting down of much commercial and social interaction in the city of Ste. Genevieve due to the COVID-19 pandemic has changed life, Mayor Paul Hassler still expressed optimism last week.
“One thing about it, we’re all in this together,” Hassler said. “I think the biggest thing right now, the biggest thing we’ve got to do is fight this illness. We’ve been blessed so far that we haven’t had a run of illness in our nursing homes. I think they’re doing a great job of protecting their people, with all these restrictions.”
He had praise for county health department director Sandra Bell.
“What Sandy Bell’s doing is spot-on, and everybody’s cooperating,” he said. “I think that’s what our focus is on right now — that and our employees, our essential employees for the city. We’ve just got to be mindful of that. Right now, our focus is on the health and well-being of our citizens.
“Everything takes a back burner to that, for me, anyway. To me, life is more valuable than anything on this earth. The economy will bounce back; it will. I’ve got all the confidence in the world, but I don’t want to see one person die because we’re not able to provide healthcare to someone who does get sick with this coronavirus.”

See complete story in the April 1 edition of the Herald.