 Welcome to a virtual program celebrating the sister city relationship between Enfleur France and Burlington, Vermont, with the mayors of both cities. I'm Fran Spodard, and I'm a member of the sister city committee. 10 years ago, Burlington representatives visited Enfleur France to honor the 400th anniversary of Samuel de Champray's discovery of the lake to which he gave his name. Champlain made numerous trips to New France, which is now eastern Canada. Most frequently departing France from Enfleur Harbor. After many exchanges, delegates from Burlington and Enfleur met last fall to formalize an ongoing sister city connection with the charter. Since the initial visit to Enfleur 10 years ago, there have been numerous visits and exchanges involving high school students, boy scouts, Champlain college students, Vermont artists and residents, members of the Lake Champlain Region Alliance Alliance Francaise. And Enfleur officials and residents have been hosted in Burlington in 2013 and in 2017. And there are already talks of a future crypto Burlington in 2021. These exchanges aim at promoting and understanding our respective cultures and economic development opportunities in a global and mutually rewarding way. Burlington Mayor Miro Weinberger and his Enfleur counterpart, Monsieur Ramere Michel Lamar, have met in person on several occasions in the past. And they signed this charter last fall in a ceremony held simultaneously by a video conference in Burlington City Halls, Contois Auditorium, and Enfleur City Hall. So they were not strangers working and meeting virtually even before the pandemic took place. We appreciate both Mayor Lamar and Mayor Weinberger taking the time out of their very busy schedules to discuss how their cities are faring during these very challenging times. Bienvenue. Merci de voir trouver le temps de nous parler aujourd'hui. Je suis désolée que mon français n'est pas bon de tuer. Mais nous avons Richard Glish, qui est un traducteur extraordinaire. Et je suis heureux aussi d'accueillir aussi Madame Lechavier, Lisa, et le président de notre comité de moulage. Et aussi Marc Adona, Lisa, Peter. Why don't you all say hi? We welcome Monsieur the Mayor Lamar of Enfleur. And these are part of our committee that are here. And we would like you to welcome the Mayor before I ask these few questions. Bonjour Monsieur the Mayor et bienvenue. Bonjour Monsieur the Mayor. Bonjour. Bonjour, c'est un honneur de vous voir malgré toutes ces difficultés. Bonjour Monsieur the Mayor. Je regret que Mayor Weinberger ne pourra pas ne rejoindre aujourd'hui, peut-être un autre temps. Mais vous savez tout seul que c'est bien que c'est l'opportunité de rejoindre les maires de les villes. Merci pour aujourd'hui. Non mais ça fait très plaisir de vous voir. D'abord, je suis content de vous voir tous en bonne santé. Déjà, ça c'est très important. Et puis je reconnais des amis, donc des visages connus. C'est presque un peu de la famille. Voilà Lisa, Marc, Adona, Lise. Voilà, et les amis chez qui j'étais reçu. Je garde des souvenirs magnifiques de la maison de Lisa et des écureuils sur le toit, d'ailleurs. Ça fait du bien. So the first one is how you and the people of Enfleur are doing during this challenging time of the pandemic and around these surges as well. So d'abord, comment allez-vous, allez-vous? Et les gens d'Enfleur pendant cette difficile période de pandémie avec les, et spécialement avec les poussées les plus récents? Alors, nous attendons demain soir et puis ce soir, surtout, le discours du président de la République sur les nouvelles mesures qui vont être prises en France par rapport au coronavirus. La difficulté aujourd'hui, c'est le nombre de personnes qui sont hospitalisées et qui arrivent en réanimation. Donc les hôpitaux, certains déjà sont saturés. Ils ne peuvent plus prendre davantage de patients. Et c'est la grosse inquiétude. Et on pense que si on continue de sortir dans les rues, d'aller dans les bars, de se rencontrer, le risque est grave et on a peur que les malades se transforment en morts. Dans le département du Calvados, il y a déjà plusieurs décès depuis une semaine qui sont dues au coronavirus. Et on a l'impression que, cette fois, par rapport au mois de mars, avril, on a l'impression que le virus est beaucoup plus contagieux. Je vous donne un exemple. Moi, je ne connaissais presque personne qui avait le coronavirus au mois de mars, juin, juillet. Je ne connaissais presque personne. Quelques employés, 2 ou 3 personnes de la mairie, de la communauté de communes. Mais là, tous les jours, j'ai des témoignages de gens très proches qui ont attrapé le virus. J'ai une cousine qui est hospitalisée depuis 2 jours et qui a été plongée dans le coma. J'ai des gens que je connais, des proches, qui sont dans les hôpitaux. Cette fois-ci, je pense que le virus est beaucoup plus dangereux, beaucoup plus fort, et qu'il prolifère à une grande vitesse. En France, on a un indice. Il y a un mois, on avait 60 cas pour 100 000 habitants. Aujourd'hui, on est à 350 pour 100 000. Et ça continue tous les jours. Je pense que demain, ce soir ou demain, le gouvernement va se prononcer pour un deuxième confinement. So, Mayor, comment voler les entreprises, les restaurants, les commerçants ont-ils bénéficié d'aide ou de soutien? How are the businesses, restaurants, shopkeepers, fairing, have they been supported in some ways I think we can say sincerely that the French government, France in general, has been exemplary in the matter and that hundreds of millions of euros, or even billions of euros, have been unlocked to help the companies. We are part of the rare nations in the world that have brought the unemployment thanks to public money. That is to say that today, the restaurant that closes in France, the whole of the employees are paid by the employment agency, by the employment body, so the government, the taxes, public money, finance the employees' salaries that do not work in other countries. If the restaurant closes, the staff is immediately in unemployment without any remuneration and sleeps in the street, well, after a few days. In France, we are lucky that there is a very powerful social system that takes charge and helps companies. I have met several companies, several restaurateurs, and they all agree to recognize that the help of the state is exceptional. But despite this help, there are, for example, the employees of the businesses that must be paid, the state cannot help at all, so it already carries the salaries, it also takes charge of the different social charges that some companies will not pay or it will be different. But there are important help and we, the community of the country of Don Fleur, we gave money, in an important way, which helped small local businesses, small local businesses and local artisans. The region has helped, the department has helped all the collectivities of the community. In the past, by the department, the state region has invested money to help the businessmen, the artisans' businesses. But it will never replace a normal economic activity, never. And we see in the streets, in Paris, in Accent, unfortunately, we see in the shops small labels on paper, small labels that say, thank you to our loyal customers who have been coming to us for years, who have bought from us, but we have not been able to keep the store closed because some have not been able to keep despite the help of the government and the collectivities. And Mr. Ramair, how are the schools? How are the schools, Gérant-Elle? So, the schools depend on the mayor in large part, that is to say, the buildings are managed by the mayor and the mayor has put in place a reinforced municipal staff, much more staff, because, of course, to prevent children from touching or bordering, we need more surveillance. And then, of course, the children, the smallest, it is complicated for the wear of masks. So in maternal schools, it is authorized that children do not wear the mask, but the institutions, the institutions have to see whether the children do not touch each other. So it's still complicated because the school is precisely the place to meet the other, to socialize the children that we teach them to be solid, to play with the others. And there, for several months, we teach the children not to touch each other, not to play together. So, but if we close schools, we will have an economic problem because parents can't go to work, they can't keep the children. So the government, even if it reconfines tomorrow, has decided not to close schools, school establishments, but to strengthen schools, the wear of the mask, the use of the gel, and the distancing. And for the largest schools that are universities, colleges or high schools, the government takes the work so, in particular, to do the homework by work, by tele-transmission, the classes by tele-transmission. So, but the schools will not be closed because it's a children's nursery problem somewhere. From our group, you might have another question or a follow-up from Elimar. We don't want to keep him much longer. We might have just a few minutes with him. Are there other questions that have come up for you? Dana, I see you moving forward. Go ahead. How did tourism have been affected in Flair? Because, anyway, for Flair, tourism is something very important. And of course, I think it has decreased. But are there measures to try to compensate for what is happening? Thank you, Dana. So, I must tell you that it's a paradox, but the 2020 season has been one of the best seasons in the history of Flair, with thousands, thousands, thousands of visitors, on black streets of the world. Of course, with the mask because, as a mayor, I had asked whether the mask was mandatory in the hyper-center for all the reasons that you could understand. In addition, as we receive a lot of people, there is no more risk of catching the virus because it circulates even more. But paradoxically, there have not been so many cases of COVID during the summer. It's incredible, but there have not been many cases in Flair during the summer. A lot of people, because the French, the Parisians, the French did not go abroad. And they all chose destinations that reminded them of holidays. So there were funny ads that showed in Flair. You can't go to Amsterdam, but you can go to Flair because it looks like it. You can't go to Tokyo, but you can go to such a city in France because it looks like it. So the French played the game. They were very present. They spent a lot of time. And the restaurateurs were happy. And everyone said we had a fabulous season. We are calm. It went well. And they thought it was going to continue until September 15, when the Prime Minister explained that the virus circulated again. And where he decided, especially to distance himself in the restaurants, so there are measures in the restaurants, the restaurants must lower their judge by 30%. That is to say that if you have 100 covers, you only have 70 covers. You have to put plexiglass between the chairs, between the tables. You have to... And the servers, the cooks must wear the mask all the time. And there, I think that tomorrow, Satan is waiting for a closure in the evening. I even believe in the day of the restaurants. The administrations apparently remain very open, but everything that is trade and traditional restaurants, except food stores, everything else is closed. And then, on the trade, we realized that the small shops, the proximity shops, the bakeries, the pastry shops, the charcutiers, had made exceptional months because people find the shops again. People come back to the small shops and they have a council, we help them, we prepare their colleagues. We also had volunteers who were brought by volunteers to bring them to elderly people, to sick people, to run them home. So the pandemic also had positive sides because we saw that there were people who were solidary and who thought of others everywhere. Winter, in my opinion, is going to be difficult because there is a sort of... I don't know about you, how is it going? It must be about the same, I think, because there is a morbidity in the environment and then there is fear because now families have relatives who are affected by the virus. And in front of this virus, no one is equal. You have people who are 1.90 m, sportsmen who fall into the commune, who are very ill, and then you have even elderly people who come out. We have, for example, we have three cases, we had the last week three cases of COVID, of people more than 80 years old, and the three are much better, and they will come out. And you have young people, 25, 30 years old, who unfortunately are dying. So there is this morbidity. At the top of Christmas holidays, which are usually nice holidays, all the demonstrations are cancelled. There is no more Christmas market, there is no more Christmas parties, the cities are sad, it's cold, it's gray. So it's not joyous. You have to keep the cost. When I think of our old people who have known 40 wars, it was also very, very hard, much harder in my opinion. But we feel that people are tired. We feel that people are tired and in hospitals, also in hospitals, we feel a kind of depression that hurts the caretaker who is tired and can't take it anymore. And we fear that if they fear, there is no one to take care of the sick. Thank you. And Peter, and I know Lisa has a quick question as well. Peter. Thank you Fran, and I'll ask you in English and then in French. My question is about I understand you're waiting remarks this evening from the President of the Republic, but whether is thinking back to March through the summer or this fall now and what you anticipate coming ahead, has there been consistent messaging from the federal government in France about how to... how it is asking the public to respond to the virus? And aside from the government's message, to what extent is there tension around or protests against masks, against measures that some perceive as overly restrictive? And then, aside from the government's response, how has there been public reactions against measures, against confinement, anti-mask demonstrations, etc. that we have seen in the United States sometimes, for example? Very good question. So on the last question, we don't have so many people who have contested the mask, the mask's port, or who have cried out for the manipulation, all of that is false, we lie, we want to have fun. There are always, and we often hear more about the minorities who cry out loud, rather than the vast majority who, in a good way. I think that those who think that the mask is not useful, that all of that is cinema, if we take them tomorrow morning in the reanimation rooms of hospitals normally, they will really regret their proposal. Because when we see people who have returned several times a day to be able to breathe, when we say to the family, we can unfortunately, unfortunately, I would prefer it to be a conspiracy that is not dangerous, it is less dangerous, it is unfortunately the reality of people, every day in reanimation, and 50% said to me, someone in between does not come out of reanimation, they die, people die. So in France, there has not been this movement that is maintained by the networks in large part of itself, at all levels. The coronavirus, it is another day, it is such a file, finally, it is a kind of fund that comes back like that in France, no. So, when the capital of Calvados, in the department where I am, there was a distribution, yes, indeed, of traces in the toilets, saying to people that it was not necessary to believe that there was coronavirus, that all that was a assembly of governments. On the management of the pandemic by the way, I tell you what I think, I think that the government, like all governments in general and in Europe, do not know too much what it is. They are in front of something that does not depend on it. They are in front of something that is quite extraordinary, that comes out of our habits, and we find this kind of situation in the pandemics of the Middle Age, in Hanfleur in 1437, I believe. In 1437, in Hanfleur, a boat arrived, a hundred people without doubt on board, and these people were reached of a virus, of a microbe, and there was, in the space of a few weeks, 3,000 dead, 3,000 dead. So, indeed, we had forgotten, our modern societies had forgotten that viruses exist and that they are dangerous and that they can decimate like the plague, etc. So, I think that the government, whether French, Spanish, Italian, if I may, American or Mexican, in front of this phenomenon, it has little means, if it is born to tell people to stay, confined to them. It is the only real practice that has been officially recognized in the world. Less people come out, so, of course, there are also detractors who say, look in Sweden, we have left the virus, and finally, they are better out. Yes, but we are not Swedes, we have habits that are not there, and then again, no one is equal in front of this virus, someone can get out, the other can die. The only solution to this virus will be the vaccine. It is a vaccine that must, and we hope to arrive, but like vaccines, a process for it to be effective, when we say, a process that is inevitable, I think it is a year and a half to two years, we are obliged to wait. So yes, there were maybe shortcomings, especially at the beginning of the pandemic, I think governments, not only the French, but governments did not see the pandemic coming, they did not have the number of tests necessary, they did not have material in hospitals, and did not expect what would happen. And then, in general, for a long time, we saw the hospital politics suppressing the posts, and now we realize that we had time, but it is too late, we cannot make people come back who no longer work in hospitals. On the other hand, we, the local collectivities, there, governments realized that proximity, small cities in France, especially villages, we do an extraordinary work of proximity, for in the continued solidarity to feed the people who were at home, in their homes, in the streets, in the countryside, these are the people who have worked a lot. We were on the bridge every day. And we have, I can tell you, for example that we here in Hanfleur, it is the mayor, it is the community of municipalities and the mayor who bought masks, 40,000 masks that they financed, that they distributed, whereas it could have been the government, but unfortunately, they could not, they did not do it. They are the municipalities that have to distribute to their inhabitants masks. And I think that the government, to have a mahj in France of 36,000 municipalities, which were often criticized or criticized, and the government realized that it was a force, it is thousands of municipalities, close to people who were sick, it was a force. But I think that the management to compete over it, I look at the news, when I can, every day, on BFM or elsewhere, I see that in Italy, in France, in England, in Spain, everywhere, it is They don't know what to do. One day, we close. One day, we close at 21 hours. The next day, we close at 18 hours. After, we close the schools. After, we reopen them. And then, the Germans look at what France does. France looks at what England does. No one holds the exact solution. Unfortunately, the only solution, the only solution, will be the vaccine. One more question, Mr. La Mer? Yes, I would like to ask you at home, how is it going in Burlington and in Vermont? There are two things. In the United States, things are not really better than in France. Maybe even better. There is a strong ultrudescence of cases. On the other hand, at such a local level in Vermont, there is a governor who has done an excellent job in terms of information, prevention, and a general public who plays the game. So, currently, like everyone, we are starting to have a small recrudescence of cases, but in lower proportions than elsewhere in the country. For example, we have something like 7 cases, 7 or 8 cases per 100,000 people. There has been a trial for months. There are two people hospitalized in total, in the entire state of Vermont. There is a follow-up, once the follow-up, there are cases dedicated, it is done very quickly. We are a little in this situation. On the other hand, we ask all people from the outside of Vermont now, in theory, to be confined and stay in quarantine for two weeks if they want to visit Vermont. We are also very close to what is happening outside and we try to control the entry and exit of the state compared to the rest of the country. In the national press, I think we say that Vermont is one of the states of all the five years, where there is the least of cases. Okay. Here, Vermont, Burlington, Mayor Weinberger, every week, he announces the improvements of education, business and governor. And my question is about the vaccine. If the vaccine comes from you, is the world ready to try it? Are the people in France, when the vaccine becomes available, ready to take it? Is there any apprehension on that? Because I think that's the next step. So, yes, I'm answering Alice. Yes, there are already young people who have been appointed candidates, young people who think it's interesting to try it and in a solid way. Because it's true that there are fears. We hear everything and everything is on the contrary. We are told that, for example, in China, in Russia, they already have the vaccine, but teachers, doctors who don't understand each other say, be careful, it's very dangerous. These vaccines, they have been damaged. In fact, you have to at least a year and a half to two years to verify the effectiveness of a vaccine. And if people are vaccinated with vaccines that have been done too quickly, there may be consequences. So, of course, of course, it scares people. But I think that from the moment when the French government and especially the health regional agencies will say that a quality vaccine, a really officially recognized vaccine at the international level will be ready. Yes, yes, people are ready to be vaccinated. Because now, for 15 days, three weeks, the number of people in our knowledge who have the virus and who are in very bad states is scary. And I think that people today are ready to be vaccinated to avoid having to end up like these people we see in reanimation. Thank you, Richard. Thank you, Mr. Rehmer. Thank you for everyone. We are so grateful. Thank you, thank you very much. We wish you good health, Santé. And if anyone wants to say another goodbye, thank you so much for the time. Thank you very much, Mr. Rehmer. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. I hope to see you again. Take care. Take care. Okay. We have your bed, Mr. Mayor. Come and see us. Gladly. Good continuation. Goodbye. Thank you.