Lacking consensus and uncertain about what Gov. Gavin Newsom may propose later this week, the Board of Supervisors Tuesday postponed any action on ending coronavirus-related restrictions imposed by the Riverside County public health officer.
The 5-0 vote to reconvene for a special session at 1 p.m. Friday followed an eight-hour meeting with more than 100 speakers appearing in person and addressing the board by telephone.
Board Chairman Manuel Perez and Supervisor Karen Spiegel originally proposed ending requirements on social distancing, use of face coverings, ongoing limitations on golfing, keeping schools closed and barring short-term rentals, except in cases of providing emergency shelter for vulnerable persons.
Public Health Officer Dr. Cameron Kaiser last week signed orders keeping the regulations in place until June 19. By dropping them, the county would align with state mandates and no longer have measures that are more austere.
Perez backed off his earlier support, opining that it would not be in the county’s favor to “abandon guidances” from Kaiser and Riverside University Health System staff.
Perez said he felt continuing some restrictions might fit “hand in glove” with whatever Newsom does this week to ease the statewide stay-at-home order.
Spiegel was of the same opinion and retreated from her original position.
Newsom is expected to make announcements Thursday. He said Monday a relaxation in state restrictions was in the works, with certain categories of businesses eligible to re-open this week.
Supervisor Jeff Hewitt was prepared to nullify all of the county’s ongoing restrictions.
“It feels like we’re debating how to inflate the inflatable life raft when there are already so many people drowning,” Hewitt said, removing his face mask, which Supervisor Kevin Jeffries also did.
“There are horrible tragedies for business owners and employees,” Hewitt said. “We are not gods of who opens and who doesn’t. Let the extreme intelligence of our nation and county do this.”
Hewitt denounced the data that had been put before the public on the severity of the coronavirus, noting that the figures cited by Kaiser and other RUHS staff had been “greatly exaggerated.”
Hewitt’s sentiments were echoed by Sheriff Chad Bianco and Treasurer-Tax Collector Jon Christensen, both of whom advocated ending county-level restrictions.
“I work with numbers and none of the numbers from this pandemic have panned out,” Christensen told the board. “If I had presented data like that to the board, I would have been tarred, feathered and run out of town. The erosion of civil liberties is deeply concerning.”
Christensen said county revenues are tumbling and the business community is steeped in fear, necessitating swift action for the county’s economic survival.
Bianco, who spoke without a mask, told the board he was opposed to the “elimination of Constitutional freedoms.”
“We need to rely on facts and data, not projections and fear,” Bianco said amid cheers. “The danger of the virus is significantly lower.
“The original projections that caused the health orders to be put in place have been proven wrong. This cannot be the new normal. Our nation is about life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”
Riverside-area salon owner Adrian Bermudez characterized the face coverings mandate and other county requirements as “medical tyranny.”
“You sit up here in your ivory tower and make decisions. But who’s going to pay your salary if there’s no tax base because businesses are going out of business?” Bermudez said.
Most of the people who addressed the board were not wearing face coverings, as required by the public health officer’s mandate. Violating the health orders can result in misdemeanor charges and fines.
“Wearing a mask spreads the message that this (virus) is dangerous,” Chris Nelson told the supervisors. “Stop operating under fear and operate under facts and statistics so that we can once again revive our freedom.”
Several speakers, including a 16-year-old girl, read from the U.S. Constitution to drive home their points that the county’s impositions were over-broad and incompatible with a free society.
“Our Constitutional rights continue to be suppressed with no warrant,” Hunter Erickson said. “What if we wait another week (to end restrictions)? The virus will still be here.
“What are we waiting for? How much freedom are we willing to give up? There’s no science to warrant this type of lockdown. It’s time to fully reopen the county and state.”
About one-third of speakers, many of them affiliated with unions, defended the county’s restrictions.
Jurupa Valley Unified School District Superintendent Elliott Duchon told the board Kaiser’s order keeping schools closed until June 19 was “an effective tool in stopping the virus.”
Palm Springs Mayor Geoff Kors praised face coverings, saying they will be needed as a protective measure “when businesses start to open.”
“I’m in favor of keeping the rules in place as more people are visiting businesses,” he said.
Perez said last week that with over 50,000 COVID-19 screenings conducted and the number of infections now advancing only marginally, there was no coronavirus “surge” to fear.
The board granted Kaiser unfettered authority to issue public health mandates when it declared a local emergency on March 10.
During a news briefing at the County Administrative Center Wednesday, Kaiser acknowledged that the increase in temperatures and other seasonal changes would “slow the virus down,” but he asserted the ongoing need to wear face coverings, though they are not mandated by the California Department of Public Health, and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends their voluntary utilization only in confined settings.