SLO County’s Emergency Operation Center closes for the first time in 75 days
Workers for the county of San Luis Obispo found themselves putting in long hours at unexpected jobs in the last few months during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The county’s top administrator and emergency services director, Wade Horton, took his first day off in 90 days on Sunday. That’s the first time the Emergency Operations Center closed since a physical location opened near the county jail March 16.
“People have been working pretty hard,” Horton told The Tribune Thursday. “We also know we’re all very fortunate to have jobs. There are a lot of people in the community that wish they were working.”
He and Public Health Officer Penny Borenstein signed declarations stating a public health emergency on March 13. That gave them the power to adopt a shelter-at-home order on March 18 — a decision that Horton said was one of the hardest he’s ever had to make, knowing it would cost people their livelihoods.
The emergency order allowed them to tap into county contingency funds to build a multi-million dollar alternate care site at Cal Poly, and it allowed the county to reassign jobs to county employees who signed an oath to be disaster service workers in a time of need.
County government employees went to work setting up and staffing the alternate care site and launching other programs to fight the spread of the coronavirus. Those include new safe parking locations for people experiencing homelessness, medication and food delivery for vulnerable residents, an public information line, and tracing residents who came into contact with someone who has the disease.
Davis Salas generally works for the tax collector’s office unloaded boxes of medical supplies at the alternate care site. Tina Baugh, who works at the Cambria Library, delivered prescriptions to residents. Weights and Measures inspector Ismael Guzman delivered groceries.
Jodi Snowbarger is usually with the department of Agriculture and was recently packing food at the Food Bank. Leah St. James in county purchasing manages ordering at the medical supply warehouse. Seth Romera switched from working at the Arroyo Grande library to working at the Los Osos Library Safe Parking Shelter and delivering food throughout San Luis Obispo.
Public Works employee Rafid Alhadeethi arrives at work at a safe parking shelter at 6:45 p.m. and doesn’t leave until 7:15 in the morning.
Jessie Yates, an employee at the sheriff’s office, delivered food to families in quarantine from California Valley to Lake Nacimiento. Diana Hammerlund, who usually works at the Los Osos Library, coordinates lunch for emergency workers at the Emergency Operations Center.
The center is the hub of coordination efforts to limit the spread of COVID-19 in the community. That means working with nonprofits, service providers, residential facilities, businesses and city governments to provide guidance to inform Horton and Borenstein’s decisions.
“There are a lot of people who have worked with and in the EOC every day for the past 90 days, and many more who have taken very little time off for the good of the community,” county spokesperson Whitney Szentesi said.
Horton said he planned to spend his Sunday off hanging out with his four kids at their home in Nipomo.
“My poor wife has been a single mom,” Horton said. “I’m looking forward to spending time with the kids, and her.”
