Is it time to let go of grudges against SLO County COVID violators?

Finally, the masks are (mostly) off, movie theaters are open again and we have the option of eating inside our favorite restaurants.

With the COVID pandemic easing — but still not over — is it time to forgive and forget?

Should we smile and say hello to those anti-maskers we shunned just six months ago?

Spend our money at businesses whose owners openly defied COVID regulations?

Give a pass to public officials who refused to enforce restrictions aimed at slowing the spread?

Are we taking the moral high ground by boycotting businesses (or people) who jeopardized public health? Or are we just hurting ourselves by continuing to hold a grudge — something that’s bad for both mental and physical health?

And what about our collective response?

Should authorities forgive fines that haven’t been paid, and drop any unresolved cases against businesses accused of violating COVID rules no longer in place?

One case dismissed

In mid-June, the Santa Barbara County District Attorney’s Office dropped four misdemeanor criminal charges against Kurt Hixenbaugh, a former San Luis Obispo police officer accused of continuing to operate his Orcutt wine bar, Vino et Amicis, in violation of public health orders.

The prosecution said it acted in the interests of justice.

“Today marks the end of the state’s color-tiered restrictions, so the restrictions which formed the basis of the allegation no longer exist,” Chief Deputy District Attorney John Savrnoch told a Noozhawk reporter.

He also noted that Hixenbaugh had no new violations, which was one of the DA’s primary goals in filing an enforcement action in the first place.

It was, frankly, a weak outcome, but at least the Santa Barbara County DA’s Office filed charges.

In San Luis Obispo County, District Attorney Dan Dow made it known that he did not plan to prosecute business owners “struggling to keep their head above water and survive financially.”

That left it to cities to pursue civil actions; San Luis Obispo was one of the most vigilant in doing so.

Kennedy Club case continues

One of the most notable cases was against Kennedy Club Fitness, which continued to allow indoor exercise at a time when only outdoor operations were allowed. The city issued multiple citations.

The business — which was represented by attorney Jordan Cunningham, who also serves in the state Assembly — appealed the citations to an administrative review board, but lost.

Unwilling to give up, Kennedy Club Fitness has appealed the case to Superior Court; a hearing is scheduled for July 23.

“The legal argument, in simple form, is that the city could not prove either element of the ordinance under which it cited KCF. The city then amended its ordinance — after the fact — and applied the newly-amended ordinance retroactively. Which violates both due process and the Ex Post Facto clause of the U.S. Constitution,” Cunningham said in an email.

The city has every intention of pursuing the case.

“The fact that the very actions the laws were enacted to encourage, with which most in our county complied, have now resulted in far better circumstances does not mean that the action in question did not constitute a violation under the law and circumstances at the time the citation was issued,” City Attorney Christine Dietrick said in an email.

She’s absolutely correct.

It’s unfair to allow those who failed to comply with the rules to simply walk away. That’s an injustice to those businesses that did follow regulations, often at great personal expense.

Keep in mind, too, that public agencies relied on education and voluntary compliance first; issuing citations was a last resort.

And don’t buy into the argument that the rules were unduly harsh and unnecessary. At the time, hundreds of Californians were dying each day, and public health officials took actions they believed were necessary to stop the spread of the virus.

On top of that, dismissing cases now sets an awful example for the future — and that future may be here sooner than we know.

What if there’s another resurgence linked to the Delta variant? Will anyone take public health orders seriously if there’s no follow-through on enforcement or, even worse, there are no effort to enforce the rules in the first place?

It’s one thing to overlook COVID transgressions — or not — in our personal dealings.

That’s a decision each of us makes based on our own beliefs.

But government has a duty to protect us, and allowing COVID violators to walk away now, as if their actions were of no consequence, minimizes a horrible period in our history that isn’t over yet.

The city of San Luis Obispo is right to stand strong.

This editorial has been updated to include a comment from Assemblyman Cunningham on the basis for the appeal.

This story was originally published June 30, 2021 at 7:16 AM.