For the first time in recent history (i.e., the last 30 years, at least), Lake County’s Public Health Department became the local lead agency for responding to a statewide emergency declared by the Governor on March 4, 2020.
The California Department of Public Health, as part of the National Incident Management System (NIMS) and State Emergency Management System (SEMS), provided guidance to all county Public Health Officers to enable the authorization of official Public Health Orders, implemented by the countywide Operational Area Council — including both cities, both hospitals, all first responder agencies, and the usual mash-up of county officials (including, one presumes the Sheriff’s Office of Emergency Services).
Initially the public accepted the orders to “shelter in place,” refrain from “social gatherings” (with some renegade exceptions), and practice “social distancing.” The agency work forces developed online capacities to maintain operations from their homes, whenever possible, and preparations went into full swing to accommodate an anticipated wave of hospitalizations for persons infected by the “novel Coronavirus” called COVID-19 (so numbered for the year in which it was discovered, in Wuhan, China).
As the weather became more hospitable, and with major holidays approaching, a contingent of activists began campaigning for the limited, local use of Clear Lake and other recreational water bodies, to which the County Sheriff responded by issuing a statement declaring that his department would not enforce the Public Health Orders as long as the violations were not accompanied by other types of punishable crimes. His statement was published in the local online press and Facebook, the County of Lake perpetuated its distribution using social media, and the non-conformists were thereby encouraged to challenge the decisions of the local Public Health Officer.
In response to the state Public Health Officer’s May 7, 2020 orders, all California counties began to prepare for entering into “Stage 2” of the statewide response, as identified in the Governor’s “California Pandemic Roadmap” (https://www.gov.ca.gov/wpcontent/uploads/2020/05/5.4.20-Update-on-Californias-PandemicRoadmap.pdf).
Lake County’s application to CDPH for allowing a “Variance” of our local Public Health Orders to enter into Stage 2 of the statewide response, as identified in the Governor’s “California Pandemic Roadmap” (https://www.gov.ca.gov/wpcontent/uploads/2020/05/5.4.20-Update-on-Californias-PandemicRoadmap.pdf) was in response to the state Public Health Officer’s May 7 orders and was submitted on May 18 and approved on May 21, in time for the Memorial Day Weekend. On May 19, the Lake County Board of Supervisors haggled at length with the Public Health Officer over whether or not to include an enforcement clause in the upcoming Public Health Order for qualified businesses to reopen before the popular recreational weekend.
Despite efforts to reopen Clear Lake only to locals, of course, non-local residents began reopening their vacation homes (lodging accommodations still prohibited from accepting non-essential, out-of-county residents), and launching their watercraft into Clear Lake on the weekend of May 9 and 10, for Mother’s Day. Also despite the Public Health Officer’s discouragement of vacationers from out of the area, the County’s Department of Water Resources distributed materials for compliance with our invasive species protection program (www.nomussels.com), enabling their non-compliant but not-exactly-illegal choices on that weekend.
Ramping up for the “early reopening” of businesses, the weeks-old Board of Supervisors’ ad hoc “Blue Collar Committee” advocated for allowing some non-essential businesses to reopen (once the county’s “Variance Application” was approved by the CDPH), and on Tuesday, a lengthy discussion of the anticipated May 20 Public Health Order for mandatory facial coverings was held on May 19.
Among the tactics chosen by the Board of Supervisors was the delegation of responding to complaints about non-compliant businesses to the Supervisors themselves, for which District 4 Supervisor Tina Scott requested a training module for the Supervisors to ensure “clear, consistent messaging” to be conveyed by all Supervisors engaged in providing “education” to businesses not following the new Public Health Order. Not included in the May 29 Public Health Order was any reference to “enforcement” or any support for developing enforcement capacities, given the Sheriff’s predetermined position on his department’s response to PHO violations, which was a gnarly bone of contention during the May 19 Board of Supervisors Hearing. Only two members of the public advocated for including what the other board members call “teeth” in the order, but Supervisor Scott did mention that the order could be brought back for modification if needed when results of the next two to four weeks are examined.
During the Board of Supervisors discussion of the merits of handling complaints about businesses unwilling to require facial coverings, and following general consensus that “messaging” needs to be “consistent,” District 5 Supervisor Rob Brown stated he would not follow a “playbook” that the Board of Supervisors think he should follow.
Four days later, the Lake County Administration released a Press Release from the County describing Sheriff Martin’s issuance on May 22 of a “Directive authorizing temporary use of County-owned and private properties for modified business operations. Martin’s Order will be effective Tuesday, May 26, at 8am, and must be ratified by the Board of Supervisors at their Tuesday meeting.”
The Lake County Record-Bee published the announcement that the City of Clearlake and the City of Lakeport have “issued similar emergency orders . . . “ but the Sheriff’s Order includes a process for permitting of alternatives for re-opening some businesses under the authority of the Lake County Department of Public Works Director Scott DeLeon (or designee) to “approve and issue these temporary permits without observing customary use permit noticing and hearing requirements. Determinations regarding proposed uses will be made on a case-by-case basis, and the County may impose Conditions of Approval, where necessary, to ensure property is safely used, and compatible with surrounding land use requirements.”
So after years (decades) of telling the paying public that they can’t take action — for a litany of reasons — suddenly they DO have power and are all wielding it like 1977 Star Wars light sabers, in the battle for the return to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” that the Sheriff said was his highest priority to protect.
With the parallel announcements of greatly subdued Memorial Day ceremonies at Lake County cemeteries, commemorative parades and family gatherings a memory themselves, the great heyday of downtown dining is about to unfold and the rest of us will wait two weeks to see how many “confirmed cases” (not to mention deaths, heaven forbid) are found either with scheduled curbside testing or hospital diagnosis.
—Betsy Cawn is a programmer at KFPZ Radio. She is also the founder of the The Essential Public Information Center in Upper Lake, California. Her “Long-Term Recovery Hour” show airs Sundays from 2- 4 PM at 88.1 F.M. and streams live at Kfpz.org
