Nonpartisan approach needed to reopen Pa.

It would be a mistake for counties to restart their economies without the governor’s permission.

It’s time for everyone to take a deep breath and pause the raging debate over when and how to reopen Pennsylvania. For weeks now, there’s been a simmering dispute between the Wolf administration and those who are eager to start allowing businesses to reopen. In the last few days, it has come to a boil.

Gov. Tom Wolf has established a reopening plan that designates counties as red, yellow or green. While some counties are being moved to yellow, which loosens some restrictions, those listed as red have to live under the strictest rules until at least June 4.

Leaders in some red counties have had enough of the tight restrictions, which make it difficult or impossible for many to pursue their livelihoods. Several counties announced last weekend that they would move from red to yellow on their own.

The governor responded Monday with harsh words and stern warnings. He said it would be cowardly for people to reopen before state health officials believe it’s safe, and that doing so would lead to serious regulatory, legal and financial repercussions.

The Berks County commissioners stepped into the middle of all this last weekend by declaring that they would gather input from business and health care leaders to develop a safe plan to restart the local economy. The commissioners did not say that they were going to start reopening without Wolf’s permission.

It would be a mistake to defy the governor’s order, which would create a chaotic situation and new headaches for businesses. But we don’t see any harm in talking about the path forward and having a plan ready when the time comes to start to reopen.

We were heartened to hear the commissioners say that they want to act in a unanimous, bipartisan fashion. One of the most troubling aspects of the debate lately is that it’s turned into yet another front in the ongoing political war.

The disheartening piece of these disagreements is their adherence to party lines. So much for the “together while apart” theme we hear on TV commercials. The effort on the Berks board to remain nonpartisan is to be commended.

In Montgomery County, the commissioners’ majority and leadership has been steadfast in its adherence to the science of reopening, recently drawing the ire of some for applying those strict standards to flag distribution for Memorial Day. Minority Republican Commissioner Joseph Gale has become increasingly vocal this week in objecting to the flags decision and calling for relaxing of the restrictions.

Instead of beating up one another, let’s stipulate a few things. The governor and others who favor a cautious approach to reopening are quite conscious of the economic impact and do care about those they affect. They just believe the situation will be worse all around if they act too early and wind up having to reimpose restrictions.

People who are eager to restart the economy more quickly are not greedy or dismissive of health concerns. Any counties that reopen would still have most restrictions in place in an effort to ensure that it’s done as safely as possible.

As long as there’s no vaccine or therapeutic solution to COVID-19, we’re going to have to tread carefully. We can’t afford to keep things clamped down indefinitely, nor can we resume life as it was.

We respect and support the governor’s commitment to saving lives. But we encourage him to engage in a dialogue with communities that have concerns about his strategy, and to avoid demonizing those with whom he disagrees. The same goes for the other side. The path Berks has chosen could serve as an example.