Did Paso Robles defy stay-at-home order? Business owners confused by stance on COVID rules
Paso Robles leaders on Friday confused business owners with their position on California’s regional COVID-19 stay-at-home order — initially saying they would defy the order before clarifying that the city does not have the authority to alter state regulations.
The Paso Robles City Council on Thursday night voted unanimously go against Gov. Gavin Newsom’s order, which divides the state into five regions and enacts stay-at-home orders in areas where hospital intensive care unit capacity has dropped below 15% due to the virus.
Council members agreed the city should instead abide by the state’s purple tier, which allows more businesses to remain open.
But on Friday afternoon, the city released a statement telling business owners and residents “to fully recognize that, if you defy the state’s stay-at-home orders, you can be putting your business or yourself at risk.”
“The state and the county still retain enforcement authority to use at their discretion,” the city said in the release. “And, as the council noted, (county Public Health Officer) Dr. Borenstein and the county will determine what they consider an egregious violation, one that can lead to more serious enforcement actions.”
City manager Tom Frutchey told The Tribune the clarification came after the city received calls from business owners confused about the council’s position.
Frutchey said he called all five council members to make sure they agreed with the changes — that their statements on Thursday night meant “we should be in the purple tier,” not that the city will flout state rules.
“If the governor agrees to do so, SLO County will be back in the purple tier,” Friday’s release said. “The council indicated its strong commitment to maintaining Paso in the purple tier, and wishes to move the county to the red tier as soon as the numbers will support that change.”
Paso Robles continues to have the highest number of coronavirus cases in San Luis Obispo County. As of Friday, the city has reported a total of 1,796 COVID-19 cases since March, according to ReadySLO.org.
Stay-at-home order versus purple tier restrictions
San Luis Obispo County is part of the state’s Southern California coronavirus region, along with Imperial, Inyo, Los Angeles, Mono, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego, Santa Barbara and Ventura counties.
The stay-at-home order, which went into effect just before midnight on Sunday, requires restaurants to shut down outdoor dining, and salons and barber shops to close along with bars and wineries. Retail stores can remain open, but only at 20% capacity.
Under California’s Blueprint for a Safer Economy, counties in the purple tier — the most restrictive of California’s reopening stages — restaurants cannot serve customers inside, but they can operate outside. Barber shops and hair salons are also allowed to remain open.
San Luis Obispo County occupied the purple tier before the regional stay-at-home order went into effect.
Leaders from San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara and Ventura counties are lobbying the state to allow for the creation of a tri-county Central Coast region. They argue the three counties have greater ICU bed capacity and should not be placed in the same category as more populous metro areas, such as Los Angeles County.
Paso Robles council members on Thursday approved sending a letter to the state in support of separating the Central Coast region from the rest of Southern California.
San Luis Obispo County Sheriff Ian Parkinson and District Attorney Dan Dow on Tuesday both said they won’t strictly enforce the new state coronavirus rules or pursue criminal charges against residents who violate the stay-at-home order.
“Families and businesses in our county are struggling to keep their head above water and survive financially,” Dow said. “There is no sense in labeling a business owner or a business as a criminal for choosing to keep their business open in a manner that adequately protects their customers — who, by the way, are not being forced to enter their business.”
Paso Robles leaders, business owners frustrated over state restrictions
The Paso Robles council on Thursday weighed various COVID-19 enforcement options and listened to calls from 35 to 40 residents, many of whom spoke about “significant impacts of state regulations on their businesses,” according to a city news release.
Frutchey said on Thursday night that Paso Robles police currently refer complaints about businesses not adhering to coronavirus regulations to the Chamber of Commerce, which helps educate owners about complying with restrictions.
But a majority of council members made statements in favor of reverting to the state’s purple tier rules.
They expressed frustration Thursday about the stay-at-home order and said they don’t understand Newsom’s scientific rationale for the sudden shift — especially for including a smaller county in a much larger region.
“We swore an oath to uphold the constitution from enemies both foreign and domestic,” Councilman John Hamon said. “In my opinion, any authority having higher authority than myself who demands compliance with unfounded rules and regulations that are not based on logical science or basic data that is shown to be accurate — in my mind, it’s basically taking the pandemic to an overreach condition. And also, in my opinion, when that happens, they’ve made it clear that the individual becomes an enemy we need to deal with.”
Council pushes back against state stay-at-home rules
Councilwoman Maria Garcia, the council’s liaison to the Downtown Paso Robles Main Street Association, said she has personally spoken to business owners about the challenges they’re facing.
“I think a lot of them do agree on the purple tier was working very good for them,” Garcia said. “I believe our community remains to be united. They know how to respect this COVID. They know they have to take precautions.”
Councilman Steve Gregory said he believes the city can’t sit by and watch local businesses fail, adding that it’s important for the council to help them however they can. In this case, he said, that means returning the city to the state’s purple tier.
“Our job at the City Council is to be responsible for our citizens and our businesses and to help them survive,” Gregory said. “And this is the one time we’re going to have to put leadership to the front of the line. It’s a philosophy that the state has taken that’s put us into the situation that we’re in. We do not belong in the Southern California region.
“We should still be in the purple tier, and I think we need to do everything we can to get us back to that point.”
Paso Robles Mayor Steve Martin agreed that law enforcement should not be forced to interpret public health regulations.
“I think what we need to do, because we do have a pandemic in place, is to not make our law enforcement officers be health officers,” Martin said. “If the (San Luis Obispo Public Health Department) wants to come in and say, ‘This business is being egregious, they constitute a threat to public health,’ then we can send them through the education process, and, as a last resort, we can employ law enforcement to administer administrative citations.”
Martin made the motion regarding purple tier restrictions, which the council voted 5-0 to approve.
“If you’re concerned for your health, you should stay away from a place you think is going to hurt your health,” Martin said at the end of the meeting. “The one caveat I would give to people is that if you’re not really worried about the virus, or you feel safe enough in going anywhere, be aware of the fact that there are probably people around you that either are at-risk or are concerned about that.
“And you may, inadvertently, even though you certainly wouldn’t want to do it purposefully, you may inadvertently deliver that virus back to somebody who is trying to avoid the virus,” Martin continued. “So please be very sensitive and circumspect about your neighbors.”
This story was originally published December 11, 2020 at 11:58 AM.
