TO THE EDITOR: The pandemic year was devastating. Lives lost. Businesses closed. The whole world turned upside down.

As I think about who to vote for on June 8th for the two Council seats, I think the way Madison has handled the Covid crisis gives an important insight into why Deb (Coen) and Eric (Range) are getting my votes.

Eric was the President of the Madison Board of Health during the crisis. For more than 10 months, he assisted daily at the Madison Health Department in the borough’s contact tracing efforts, public information and data analysis, interpreting guidance, and anything else needed to support the efforts of the professional staff in their fight against COVID-19.

He also found time to work on Madison Main Street Foundation, a 501(c) (3) sister organization to the DDC. The foundation was able to partner with the DDC to mobilize quickly and leverage its non-profit status to fundraise and provide COVID-19 Relief Grants to Madison businesses early during the COVID-19 pandemic.

By the end of 2020 those grants totaled over $192,000 in needed help for our business community.

As the council liaison to the Board of Health, Deb worked closely with Eric to ensure that information was communicated quickly and clearly to the full Council and borough administration.

Deb did that while managing her work as a teacher—a job we all know went through myriad challenging pivots during the past year.

Deb also worked to boost Madison businesses during the pandemic as the council liaison to the Downtown Development Commission. Like Eric she worked with Madison Main Street Foundation to get grants to our vital small business community.

The way that Deb and Eric both responded to the Covid crisis demonstrates to me that they are the kind of leaders who combine both compassion for others and who are able to roll up their sleeves and get things done.

Madison can be proud of how it responded to the pandemic and Deb and Eric have earned my vote because of their role in these efforts.

RACHEL BARRY