Tulare County, CA Supervisors Vote To Reopen

Yesterday, Tulare County, a big central California jurisdiction, voted to reopen in defiance of Gov Newsom's slow-walked "reopening" scheme:

The Tulare County Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday to defy the state’s emergency order and allow nearly all businesses, including those deemed ‘higher risk’ such as gyms and salons, to reopen.

In a split 3-2 vote, supervisors said they will not enforce the state order and want businesses to be smart about health guidelines, but also be able to decide for themselves if they want to reopen.

. . . The move came after Gov. Gavin Newsom announced many counties would be able to move through his phased reopening plan at an accelerated rate.

But Newsom added this when asked which would not:

“It’s not surprising but there are concerns. As an example, in Tulare the skilled nursing facility,” he said.

Supervisor Dennis Townsend said meeting the governor’s requirements may be impossible and cripple the economy.

“We just took action to say we are going to reopen and we’re going to go all the way through phase 3 so we can get all the businesses in there,” he said.

While some businesses that need state licenses may decide it isn't prudent to reopen, others will, and this creates further arbitrariness and uncertainty. Up to now, Gov Newsom has claimed he's "reopening", but the counties that meet his criteria so far have been those with negligible COVID rates. Criteria for actual reopenings appear to be arbitrary and ambiguous, with Newsom adding or removing them as he sees fit.

If Tulare County, in the southern San Joaquin Valley reopens, it means residents of neighboring Kern County, which includes Bakersfield, can drive 20 minutes north for a restaurant meal or a haircut.

Although the sheriff of Fresno County, which neighbors on the north, has announced she will not enforce the stay-at-home order, the legal situation for businesses there is less certain, and it's likely residents of Fresno, as well as Hanford and Lemoore in neighboring Kings County, will be willing to drive over for meals and haircuts.

This in turn makes California's orders, which for most residents continue to be among the strictest in the country, will be harder and harder to enforce.