Council wants Lodi to reopen
Body seeks to supercede recommendations from governor, S.J. County
The Lodi City Council wants to re-open businesses in town, but wants to be able to supercede recommendations from Gov. Gavin Newsom and San Joaquin County Public Health Services when it comes to which types of businesses can return to work.
The council on Wednesday directed City of Lodi staff to draft a letter to Newsom and Dr. Maggie Park, the county’s public health officer, explaining how the city has done well to flatten the COVID-19 confirmed cases curve, and that it is time for its economy to begin returning to a sense of normalcy.
The letter will ask Newsom and Park to give the city local control over deciding which businesses should be allowed to open immediately in an effort to avoid an economic collapse.
City councilwoman Joanne Mounce said the stay-at-home orders issued by Newsom and Park in March made no sense, as they allowed giant retailers such as Walmart to remain open as an “essential” business, yet small businesses that sold similar items were forced to close their doors.
She said business at Walmart has been a “free-forall” where the parking lot has been packed, and customers have not been practicing or wearing face masks as recommended by Public Health Services or the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“Let’s be clear, only 20% of Walmart, if that, is essential services. And people were taking their entire families down there and going shopping,” she said. “So tell me, what is the difference between Walmart having the ability to be all open, selling whatever they want with no guidelines whatsoever, and our mom and pops can’t sell anything, and they’re closed. What’s happening is we’re killing our small business. Our country was built on the back of small businesses willing to take a risk and provide services to our community. And we’re ultimately just killing them.”
Mounce added that local business owners know their clientele and their habits, and will be wellequipped to enforce social distancing guidelines and safety protocols to ensure COVID-19 is not spread in Lodi.
She said people understand wearing masks and social distancing can ease the spread, but they also have the right to choose not to practice those guidelines. She added that if she were to enter a local business and not see anyone practicing those guidelines, she can simply walk out.
“Our business owners in this community have the right to run their businesses the way they want,” she said. “Our citizens also have the right to be a patron if they choose. If they don’t want to go into that business, then they can choose not to.”
The other three council members agreed, claiming Lodi has done a better job than other cities in the county, as well as larger cities in the state, to keep the total number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 low.
“As far as I know, we’re the only city in the county that has had multiple protests, because our citizens know we’re doing really well,” Mayor Doug
Kuehne said. “We need to have some strong verbiage to both our county health director and our supervisors, and encourage them to treat Lodi slightly differently than the rest of the county. We’ve performed well, we’ve done a great job, and it’s time we re-opened slowly and cautiously, but open nonetheless sooner rather than later.”
A group calling itself “Open Lodi” has staged two protests at the intersection of West Kettleman Lane and South Lower Sacramento Road the last two weeks, most recently on Saturday.
As many as 400 people attended the protest, waving the Stars and Stripes, blasting music and gaining the support of passing motorists who honked their horns and cheered them on.
Saturday’s protest coincided with a similar event at the Sherwood Mall in Stockton, where San Joaquin County Supervisor Tom Patti led some 200 attendees there to send a message to Sacramento that it was time to get back to business.
Kuehne said while he supported restarting Lodi’s economy, he wanted to proceed with caution, suggesting if the city were given its local control it could have local businesses follow mandates to stop the spread of COVID-19.
As an example, he said dog groomers would be asked to have a concierge ready to escort pets in and out of the shop, and wineries would be required to ensure patrons are wearing masks or social distancing.
“So instead of saying we’re open to business as usual, we’re open for business, but with caution,” he said. “And there are certain parameters that businesses can meet to meet a low threshold by doing some mitigation. We all know people should social distance and wear masks. Seems like common sense, but if we don’t state that, then people will just be a little rampant.”
Lodi City Manager Steve Schwabauer warned the council that implementing such measures on its own will cause the city to venture into the public health business, for which it has no expertise, insurance or authority to do so.
“We are not doctors, we are not a public health authority, we do not have an epidemiologist on staff who can give us advice
about how to tell the public how to operate in opposition to a state or county order,” he said. “And if we did it, we would have no insurance coverage as a practicing public health authority. You would be flying entirely on the city’s exclusive liability. There would be no insurance coverage for any action you would take.”
Schwabauer said if the city was serious about re-opening its economy, it could look to the City of Clovis as a guide for maintaining local control. That city, he said, focused on enforcing the health and safety protocols listed in both the state and Fresno County orders as businesses began to re-open.
Mounce said if the city is given local control of the economy, enforcement should be undertaken by the San Joaquin County Sheriff’s Office, not Lodi Police Department, as it is the county that wants protocols followed.
“We have a small police force,” she said. “We have a lot going on in this city that is much more important than citing businesses for doing what is, quite frankly, the county’s responsibility. If the governor and county want to enforce this, they can use their manpower to do it. I do not support at all using our workforce -the police department — to go after mom and pops when there are homeless people (using streets as a bathroom).”
Police Chief Sierra Brucia said officers have only cited one business for not following current guidelines and protocols, as his department is focused more on educating the public about the dangers of not social distancing.
He said the stay-at-home orders have been difficult to enforce the last two months because they continue to change on a consistent basis. As a result, officers are having trouble making judgment calls as to which business should be open and which should be closed.
“We’re starting to see an uptick in personal violations of the order, not so much the businesses,” he said. “Many businesses in town, if not all of them now, are complying with the orders and the essential ones are operating. Or they are operating within the framework they are allowed.”
Brucia said if the department was directed not to enforce the business side of the orders, the non-business side would take advantage of the lack of police presence. He cited the large crowds of about 300 people that flocked to Lodi Lake the first weekend of May, as well as calls the department has received about neighbors hosting large parties and gatherings.
In letters and e-mails to the council, residents and local entrepreneurs supported the plan to re-open, stating the shutdown has not only impacted the livelihood of hundreds of small businesses, but has affected tourism and local sales tax.
Downtown business owner Leah Suelter said if she and her School Street neighbors aren’t allowed to operate again soon, small businesses in the district may never recover. Downtown will become a barren, empty space as a result, she said.
“The closure means we are now unable to pay your city bills, and cannot generate sales tax or Measure L money,” she said. “We have delayed multiple revenue-generating events that our city needs to flourish. We can reopen responsibly, and can implement guidelines more effectively than larger stores currently taking away our business. Why can big box stores sell gifts and clothing, but our small shops cannot? How are they keeping their massive stores cleaner than we would in our small spaces, that we personally know and clean diligently?”
Resident Amanda Lee called the stayat-home orders issued by the state and county “forced isolation” and said the business closures were destroying Lodi’s economy.
She added the county has to realize that with a population of more than 760,000, there had only been 579 confirmed cases of COVID-19, of which 45 were in Lodi.
By Monday, those numbers had increased to 621 confirmed cases in the county, with 47 in Lodi.
“The lives and livelihoods of your constituents have been upended and we no longer pretend that this closure is economically sustainable,” she said. “There is no evidence that shows buying clothing or housewares at a big box store such as Walmart or Target are any safer than making the same purchases at small businesses that serve 25 people a day, especially if they abide by the same social distance protocols that large box stores have in place. I am by no means suggesting we re-open without safety measures, but I do believe we can use a reasonable, practical and methodical approach to get businesses reopened quickly.”
Council’s discussion came just a day before Newsom and the county gave small businesses the greenlight to reopen on Friday, with the understanding they limit operations to curbside delivery or takeout orders.
A handful of small businesses were open downtown that day, with one allowing customers inside. However, the owner said she misunderstood the council’s discussion during its Wednesday meeting, as she thought businesses were given the okay to re-open at full capacity.
On Wednesday, Schwabauer said a letter to the governor and county will be presented to the council at its next meeting, which is scheduled for May 20.