SLO County leaders want to phase out shelter-at-home. Will Gov. Newsom let them?
A coalition of San Luis Obispo County elected officials are urging the governor to relax the state’s shelter-at-home order and allow for a phased reopening of the local economy, according to a letter they sent to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office Monday.
The letter asked for Newsom to grant permission for local leaders to implement San Luis Obispo County’s “Roadmap for Reopening” — its phased reopening plan that would allow some residents to return to work and local businesses to reopen.
“At this point, given the COVID-19 numbers locally in San Luis Obispo County — and our healthcare capacity — this bipartisan group of local elected leaders asks that you allow our county to exercise local authority to implement a phased reopening of our local economy over the next three weeks,” read the letter, signed by a slew of local officials, including Assemblyman Jordan Cunningham, San Luis Obispo County supervisors John Peschong and Debbie Arnold and the mayors for all seven of the county’s cities.
SLO County makes its case for reopening
San Luis Obispo County emergency services director Wade Horton announced on April 13 that the county was working on a reopening plan. On Monday, Horton elaborated that the plan will be completed within the week, and its details will be shared with the public at that time.
“Our community has done a fantastic job,” he said. “You’ve bent the curve. We are ready to move forward.”
The plan “includes a robust testing regimen and follows both state and federal reopening guidelines,” according to a release from Cunningham’s office.
But before the county can implement the plan, Newsom must first relax the state’s March 19 executive order.
The letter sent to his office Monday noted the potential economic and public health impacts of a prolonged economic shutdown.
“A prolonged recession is likely and becomes likelier each day we keep workers from making a living,” it read.
It also noted that a lengthy recession could lead to an increase in the mortality rate, domestic violence, child abuse, neglect and chronic stress.
Given that, and the strides the county has taken in reducing the spread of COVID-19 in San Luis Obispo County, the letter’s writers concluded that a relaxing of the state’s order was in the best interest of both the state and local economy.
“We’ve asked a great deal of county residents in the past month, and they have risen to the challenge,” read the letter. “We have asked our residents to take these desperate measures because of the unique risks posed to the broader community by this virus so that we can flatten the curve and allow our healthcare capacity to catch up.”
“Now we need to move to the next phase, which is economic recovery.”
Governor responds to the letter
Newsom responded to the request in part at a news briefing Monday afternoon, noting the importance of “localism” in the decision making process around reopening California’s economy.
“We recognize 58 counties, 480 cities, different parts of this state, (are) impacted differently,” he said in response to a question on San Luis Obispo County leaders’ letter. “But also, the fact that we are one state and the impact and the collective responsibility that we have to one another — neighboring counties, neighboring cities — also must be considered.”
Newsom said he and his office are “advancing those conversations at the local level,” and are beginning dialogues with cities’ health teams “to make sure it’s a health-based decision, not any other type of decision-making.”
“Health first, science and data,” he said. “Everything else follows from that.”
He added that he had not yet read the letter, but that he expected many more like it to arrive on his desk in the coming weeks.
This story was originally published April 20, 2020 at 1:45 PM.
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