Gov Northam And The Beaches

With many other commentators, I noted that Virginia Beach, VA was basically occupied as usual by beachgoers last weekend, notwithstanding the usual government warnings against umbrellas, blankets, sunbathing, and the like. Virginia Gov Northam was scheduled to update his executive orders yesterday in anticipation of the Memorial Day holiday this coming weekend. What interested me was whether, recognizing that if there was beach business-as-usual in Virginia Beach last weekend, the governor might bow to circumstance and essentially relax his orders, since it was likely they would not be followed on the holiday weekend anyhow.

No. According to Richmond station WHSV:

[T]he governor was asked about the plan for beaches going into Memorial Day weekend, and he said the state was working with local government officials in areas like Virginia Beach to develop a new plan, which he said he'd likely announce on Monday. And that's what happened.

Over the weekend, while beaches were still only open for exercise, Virginia Beach was packed with crowds.

. . . With a new plan in place that the governor says will allow safer use of the beach, he approved Virginia Beach's request to reopen on May 22 for activities including swimming, surfing, fishing, and other recreational activities.

Not allowed will be group activities, including group sports like volleyball, speakers playing music to large groups, alcohol, tents and groups of umbrellas, and other group-related activities.

. . . However, Gov. Northam said if people swarm the beach and ignore restrictions, he "will not hesitate" to put restrictions back into place and go as far as closing the beach if necessary.

Good luck with that, huh? But the mayor of Virginia Beach was with the program:

[T]he city has hired hundreds of people to serve as "beach ambassadors," who will help coordinated efforts to clean high-touch surfaces and will enforce the beach's regulations.

They'll also have teams dedicated to educating visitors about the new rules.

Acknowledging that beaches around the country have faced compliance problems, he said he wants people to know that they are welcome to Virginia Beach and are safe, but that the city is asking them to comply with the rules.

But let's keep in mind that Virginia Beach is just part of Virginia's Atlantic coast. There's the whole Eastern Shore above Chesapeake Bay, which is actually a major resort area. What about those beaches? The story continues,

Governor Northam emphasized that the opening applies only to Virginia Beach and First Landing State Park – not to any other beaches in the state.

But he encouraged other beaches to look to Virginia Beach's plan as a model for any reopening plans for the future.

So exactly what the policy is for the 70 miles of beach on the Eastern Shore isn't completely clear, but they aren't in the same category as Virginia Beach. What, does Cape Charles need to hire "hundreds of people to serve as 'beach ambassadors'" to enforce social-distanced sunbathing, or what? Will the state cops haul away anyone who tries volleyball there?

My first reaction is that, notwithstanding however many political retainers and civil service staff the governor has to work with, nobody seems able to draw up any reasonable policy to apply to the rest of Virginia's beaches, so they're apparently closed, or on some greater restriction. But hey, he's encouraging reopening plans for the future!

The bureaucrats are too lazy to draw up a few extra plans, so in Chincoteague, they stay locked down.

My second reaction is that nobody's going to pay attention, and everyone's going to follow Virginia Beach, especially on a national holiday, and especially as the other beaches won't have hundreds of beach ambassadors to smooth things along. Except if there's some absurd attempt by a local tyrant to haul someone off in cuffs that goes viral on the web.

Either Gov Northam comes off as ineffectual, or he comes off as Mussolini. It's a lose-lose. Why is he doing this? Why not just make a well-publicized announcement thanking Virginians for their outstanding patience and cooperation for the past ten weeks and say hey, all the beaches are open, have a good time, be safe? That's what people are going to do no matter what he says.

These politicians are not smart. Something's wrong.