State ‘shortchanged’ small counties, auditor says

State Auditor Elaine Howle slammed Newsom’s administration Tuesday for failing to distribute coronavirus relief funds equally among counties. According to Howle’s report, California’s 16 biggest counties received $190 or $197 per person while the 42 smaller counties got $102 per person — even though the smaller counties’ needs “were at least the same if not greater.” The report also found that Newsom’s administration “treated some cities inconsistently.” In July, the administration withheld federal funds from two small Central Valley cities for failing to comply with state health orders, but was “unable to demonstrate that it reviewed all 476 cities” with the same scrutiny, Howle wrote.

H.D. Palmer, spokesman for the state Department of Finance: “If the Auditor’s office has concerns over this process, they should take their policy recommendations directly to the Legislature — which voted to approve the specific mechanism that governed our actions.”

The news comes amid a slowly improving coronavirus picture in California. Hospitalizations have fallen by 8.5% over the past two weeks, though more than 20,000 people remain hospitalized or in intensive care. But challenges remain. After the state issued a warning about a specific batch of Moderna vaccines, Stanislaus County shuttered its community vaccine clinics. High winds forced a mass vaccination site in Orange County to close Tuesday. And San Francisco Mayor London Breed warned that the city’s public health department could run out of doses by today.