For SLO County lawmaker, flying to Hawaii in the middle of a pandemic is not a good look

While many Californians are canceling plans to travel just an hour or two away for the Thanksgiving holiday, local Assemblyman Jordan Cunningham and his family spent time at a luxury resort in Hawaii.

COVID-19 cases are surging in California — including in San Luis Obispo County — yet our local assemblyman thought it was OK to ignore the advice that we avoid unnecessary out-of-state travel.

He’s one 50 participants, including around half-a-dozen California lawmakers, attending a four-day conference that started Nov. 16 at the posh Fairmont Kea Lani resort on the island of Maui.

Here’s the explanation Cunningham, R-Templeton, offered The Tribune:

“Yes, my family and I are in Hawaii for an annual, bipartisan policy conference. This event promotes intelligent public policy in our state. In fact, we are here discussing ways we can safely reopen our society and save our small businesses, workers, and kids. We paid for my family’s tickets and COVID tests with personal money — no state funds were used.

“Before traveling, every attendee followed local public health and safety protocols, including testing negative for COVID-19 before getting on the plane. We wear masks in all public spaces and conference rooms and socially distance ourselves from other visitors, complying with all health protocols. This is a safe environment.

“I have been saying since April that Governor Newsom’s lockdown policies are draconian and unscientific. Fortunately, thus far, he has stopped short of unconstitutionally attempting to stop interstate travel, close the airports, or make vacations or Thanksgiving illegal.”

For the record, Gov. Gavin Newsom did not unilaterally decide on the policies the assemblyman considers “draconian and unscientific.”

Orders and advisories are issued in conjunction with the California Department of Public Health.

We hope that Cunningham doesn’t believe the Public Health Department is staffed by a bunch of charlatans offering “unscientific” advice.

As for the “draconian” mandates, California is on par with many states, and is less restrictive than some.

Oregon is limiting restaurants and bars to takeout; New Mexico issued a stay-at-home order; Massachusetts and Ohio adopted statewide curfew orders even before California did; and New York City is once again closing public schools.

California’s travel advisory

Technically, Cunningham is not violating the state’s travel advisory, which allows for “essential” out-of-state travel, including “work and study.”

That would appear to include the annual conference put on by the Independent Voter Project, a San Diego-based group that seeks to protect to rights of nonpartisan voters and promote nonpartisan election reform — a conference that’s been described as an opportunity for lawmakers and lobbyists to schmooze over cocktails, though in all fairness, that’s common at many conferences.

But was an in-person gathering really necessary, at a time when gatherings of almost any size have become all but extinct? Couldn’t the conference have been conducted on Zoom, like everybody else is doing these days?

That would have spared politicians like Cunningham from being publicly shamed for flying off to a resort on a lush island in the middle of a raging pandemic, the incongruity of which has led to extensive press coverage both here and in Hawaii.

“Facing increasing criticism, California legislators defend Hawaii trip during COVID-19 surge,” is the headline on a L.A. Times story that includes a quote from Cunningham.

“Aloha! Several California lawmakers emerge as apparent attendees of Maui excursion,” says Politico.

Even The New York Times has chimed in: “A junket to Maui?” it asks.

Unlike the mainland press, the Honolulu Advertiser defends holding a conference on the island.

“The political backlash is a variation of Hawaii’s age-old struggle to overcome the perception that this is a boondoggle destination,” it says. That might be a valid argument, except for the pandemic.

It’s timing, not location, that’s the problem

We don’t begrudge anyone a vacation in a tropical paradise.

After a grueling election, Cunningham and his family deserve it.

But this, unfortunately, is just not the time.

We’d prefer to see Cunningham promoting and modeling safe behavior — not flying off to a conference in Hawaii as growing numbers of Californians are getting sick and the death toll is expected to rise.

And he certainly should not by denigrating sound policy by calling it “draconian and unscientific” — possibly in an attempt to excuse his own poor judgment.

Speaking of which, did Cunningham somehow miss the shaming Newsom endured over his infamous dinner at the exclusive French Laundry restaurant in Napa?

That led to such an outcry that Newsom admitted he made a mistake and offered an abject apology.

It should have been an object lesson for every politician in California.

Apparently, that message didn’t get through to Assemblyman Cunningham or the other lawmakers enjoying a working vacation in Hawaii. Let’s just hope this kind of approach toward the pandemic isn’t contagious.

This story was originally published November 19, 2020 at 5:30 AM.