On Monday, Gov. Gavin Newsom said he was “pulling an emergency brake” in response to virus case spikes across the state in recent weeks.
The result of Newsom’s action was that 29 of California’s counties moved into the purple or most restrictive tier of the Blueprint for a Safer Economy.
Now, 42 of California’s 58 counties – accounting for 94.1 percent of the state’s residents – are in that most restrictive tier, and on Thursday Newsom went further by issuing a nighttime stay-at-home order for those purple tier counties.
Lake County is among 5.6 percent of the state’s population in the second most restrictive tier, red.
However, there’s no guarantee that Lake County will stay there, as the governor’s office said data is continuously being reassessed.
Over the summer, Lake came close to moving to the purple tier due to outbreaks in local skilled nursing facilities and more recently is being challenged by an outbreak at the Lake County Jail.
In response to Newsom’s action, at the Tuesday Board of Supervisors meeting, Supervisor Bruno Sabatier asked to add to the agenda an extra item in the form of a letter he wrote that morning to the governor.
That same day, Lake County surpassed the 800-case mark, with 18 COVID-19-related deaths during the pandemic so far. Statewide, by Tuesday there were more than 1,054,000 cases and 18,350 deaths.
“From my perspective, saying nothing is agreeing and I do not agree with the direction that we are going,” Sabatier said.
He said he wanted to act right away before the governor’s actions could impact the county.
The board agreed to add the letter’s consideration to the agenda.
During the discussion, Sabatier said not all places are being impacted in the same way.
Public Health Officer Dr. Gary Pace said there have been a small number of cases related to businesses. Some businesses have been hit harder than others, “and it would be good to try to figure out how to help them stay alive.”
Sabatier said he’s not trying to dismantle the tier system, but wanted to address the shortened timeline for data analysis and ranking. Previously, the county’s caseload was judged over a two-week period. Now, it can be moved within tiers after a week.
Special Districts Administrator Jan Coppinger – giving the perspective of the county’s utilities arm, which serves thousands of sewer and water customers – said that for the first six months of the pandemic, customers were doing pretty good at keeping their water and sewer bills paid.
“In the last two to three months, we’ve seen an explosion in delinquent accounts,” Coppinger said.
“I think people hung on as long as they could,” she said. “They put a lot of extra money into their business to try to operate at 25 to 50 percent of their normal, and it’s hurting them.”
Coppinger said they don’t want to overlook the fact that some of those customers are accruing a lot of back bills, which could cause them to crumble in a few months.
“It’s even worse than what we’re seeing at first glance,” Coppinger said.
Letter explains local impacts
The letter acknowledged that COVID-19 has been a struggle for all. “It has impacted every foundational fabric of our communities. Our schools, our elderly, our medically fragile, and our businesses have all been impacted. Here in Lake County we have worked hard to protect our vulnerable, provide assistance to our businesses, and continue to track the virus and manage the pandemic to the best of our abilities.”
It also recounted the adjustments Lake County has had to make to meet the state’s mandates while working to keep case numbers down.
The letter explained that local leaders have been discussing how to save businesses from the oncoming winter months. “The survival of these businesses, while ensuring the safety of staff and customers, is important for the short and long term of our county as the need for our services has not subsided.”
It then addressed the needs of community members at large. The letter cited a 500-percent increase in calls for substance use disorders and a 129-percent increase in mental health calls, numbers which Sabatier told Lake County News came from Lake County Behavioral Health Services.
Sabatier’s letter then focused on the struggles of restricted businesses, such as restaurants, which if forced to go outdoors-only in the coming winter months would be facing the same kinds of total losses as they would in a public safety power shutoff.
It explained that the state’s discussions with the California State Association of Counties that brought forth the new criteria for small counties was due to Lake County being impacted by a single outbreak such as the one that is now occurring in the Lake County Jail.
“We should be looking for stability with safety guidelines for our communities. This new approach creates a vastly unstable environment for our businesses to try and survive,” the letter said.
“Please reconsider this new change and review how it is that we can support our rural businesses, while utilizing every safety precaution to ensure the safety of our communities and to reduce the risk of an economic collapse,” the letter concluded.
Sabatier wanted to ensure that the last line emphasized the different impacts that are occurring for rural counties.
The board voted unanimously to approve and send the letter to Gov. Newsom and to send copies to state and federal elected representatives.
Sabatier confirmed to Lake County News that the letter – signed by all five supervisors – was sent on Tuesday and that, as in previous cases where the board has sent communications to the governor, it hasn’t received a direct reply.
However, he said the county has seen good outcomes from previous advocacy efforts and is hopeful that such will be the case this time.
Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.
111720 Lake County Board of Supervisors letter to Gov. Newsom by LakeCoNews on Scribd