If you live Austin, Texas there's no reason you should listen to your mayor lecture you on COVID lockdown restrictions.
Go enjoy Christmas with your family.
In early November, as health officials warned of an impending COVID-19 spike, Austin Mayor Steve Adler hosted an outdoor wedding and reception with 20 guests for his daughter at a trendy hotel near downtown.
The next morning, Adler and seven other wedding attendees boarded a private jet for Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, where they vacationed for a week at a family timeshare.
One night into the trip, Adler addressed Austin residents in a Facebook video: “We need to stay home if you can. This is not the time to relax. We are going to be looking really closely. ... We may have to close things down if we are not careful.”
In hosting the wedding and traveling internationally, Adler said he broke neither his own order nor those by Gov. Greg Abbott.
But at the time, the city was recommending people not gather in groups of more than 10, and, the day after Adler’s departure, Austin’s health authority warned that “it’s important that we drive the (COVID-19) numbers down in advance of Thanksgiving.”
As he pressed the public to help stop the spread of the coronavirus in recent weeks, Adler had not previously disclosed details of his private actions. He gave no indication in his Facebook video that he was outside the city as he discussed Austin’s rising number of cases and reviewed the number of hospital patients.
On Wednesday, after the American-Statesman reported about Adler’s activities, he apologized.
AUSTIN, TEXAS - OCTOBER 24: Austin’s 52nd Mayor Steve Adler speaks on stage during Texas Conference For Women 2019 at Austin Convention Center on October 24, 2019 in Austin, Texas. (Photo by Marla Aufmuth/Getty Images for Texas Conference for Women 2019)