El Dorado County sends letter to governor asking for local control on COVID-19 safety rules

EL DORADO COUNTY, Calif. - In a move initiated by the Republican-based North State Conference, a letter has been sent by the El Dorado County Board of Supervisors to Governor Newsom to ask for local control of the state's rules through the pandemic.

Assemblyman Kevin Kiley gathered leaders from 16 Northern California counties at this Fall's Conference of North State Leaders. No Democrat leaders were invited. The conference was held to obtain a joint response to counter Governor Newsom's approach and out of it came a "Healthy Communities Resolution."

One of those attendees was the El Dorado County representative, Sheriff John D'Agostini. Former El Dorado County Supervisor Chair Brian Veerkamp broke board protocol by invoking Emergency Powers to require the county to pay for sending the Sheriff to the political “conference” on October 29 in Red Bluff.

What was brought back to El Dorado County was a four-point resolution but the Supervisors voted to create their own resolution that did not contain the same language as Kiley's resolution as they did not agree with all of its points.

The resolution not accepted:

Consistent with our discussion at the North State Leaders conference, we ask that your respective boards approve a Healthy Communities Resolution expressing agreement with the following principles:

1. That our county is best served by an ability to respond locally to the COVID-19 virus in accordance with our local data and circumstances, as specified, for instance, in the attestation filed with the California Department of Public Health.
2. That our county is geographically diverse and ill-suited for the county-wide restrictions imposed by the Blueprint, and the State should enable our COVID-19 response to be tailored to geographically separate areas, such as different zip codes, as circumstances and case levels warrant.
3. That school districts in our jurisdiction are urged to safely open all schools as soon as possible and provide in-person instruction to the greatest extent possible without further delay.
4. That our county requests an extension of time beyond December 31, 2020 to encumber and spend our federal CARES funds, to which we are entitled by law, consistent with our respective local plans and programs.

Sincerely,
James Gallagher, Assemblymember 3rd District
Jim Nielsen, Senator District 4
Kevin Kiley, Assemblymember 6th District
Brian Dahle, Senator District 1
Megan Dahle, Assemblymember 1st District

The Supervisors heard from the County Health Officer Dr. Nancy Williams who had concern that rural areas have not proven they are safe than cities. She didn't think the timing of the Healthy Communities Resolution wasn't as effective as it would have been in October.

"Our current system is fair," said Dr. Williams.

Since the Board meeting where the updated resolution was approved, California has moved into a Stay-at-Home order with further regulations on some businesses including personal care, hair care, restaurants and lodging.

During its December 2 meeting, the El Dorado County Board of Supervisors approved a revised resolution by a vote of 4-1 with Supervisor Novasel the lone dissent due to concern over its intent and timing. Supervisor Frentzen said she did not like the intent of the four-point resolution but could get behind the two points they approved. There was also concern over what Dr. Williams would face should El Dorado County control its own rules, as others in her position had faced personal threats when a county is more directly in charge of safety rules through the pandemic.

They also voted to send their resolution directly to Governor Newsom instead of to Kiley as he requested.

The approved resolution:

WHEREAS, the paramount concern of policymakers at all levels is the health and well-being of our constituents, never more so than during what has been called a once-in-a-century pandemic; and
WHEREAS, decisions affecting the health and well-being of our constituents must be based on empirical evidence without regard to politics or the influence of special interest groups; and
WHEREAS, California has struggled as much as any state during the COVID-19 pandemic, with the third-highest unemployment rate in the country and the largest backlog of unpaid jobless claims; and
WHEREAS, California's Blueprint for a Safer Economy provides a one-size-fits-all approach to reopening communities that does not allow the flexibility to respond in a data-driven way to what is occurring in El Dorado County; and
WHERAS, there is likely an increase in drug abuse, delayed medical care, depression among our youth, and the overall need for mental health services; and
WHEREAS, El Dorado County is extremely concerned about the impact to our children who do not have access to in-person education; and
WHEREAS, on May 8, 2020, the El Dorado County Public Health Officer submitted an attestation to the California Department of Public Health that was accepted and approved, which demonstrated El Dorado County was prepared to increase the pace at which we advanced through Stage 2 of the Governor's guidelines which were in place at that time; and
WHEREAS, El Dorado County has developed outstanding, collaborative relationships between public health, local business chambers, local hospitals, the City of Placerville, the City of South Lake Tahoe and education leaders, providing a strong framework to ensure any decisions made relative to managing the spread of COVID-19 while also balancing the impacts on local businesses and the overall health and wellbeing of our residents; and
WHEREAS, as a result of this collaborative partnership across all sectors, El Dorado County is well situated to determine what tier in the Blueprint for a Safer Economy we should operate in, taking into consideration the number of cases and positivity rate, lagging indicators such as hospital capacity and deaths, as well as other detrimental impacts as a result of COVID-19 such as mental illness, child abuse, domestic violence and economic hardships;

NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that:
1) El Dorado County is best served by an ability to respond locally to the COVID-19 virus in accordance with our local data and circumstances, as specified, for instance, in the attestation filed with the California Department of Public Health, and
2) That the El Dorado County Board of Supervisors and the County Public Health Officer, along with our partners at the City of Placerville, City of South Lake Tahoe, Marshall Hospital, Barton Hospital, business chambers and education leaders, are best suited to collaboratively determine which tier of the
state’s ‘Blueprint for a Safer Economy’ is most suitable for El Dorado County businesses and residents.

The copies of the letter sent to the Board from Kiley are attached.