Local leadership on COVID-19 response should go beyond just complaining about the governor

As new council and board members and new executives take their places in local Yuba-sutter government, maybe there will be a little more consideration given to actually countering unpopular state pandemic guidelines and mandates with something beyond complaining.

We think it’s time for a counter punch, since we don’t like or appreciate the measures taken by the governor and his minions. Trouble is, it’s hard to get officials to talk much, other than to speak out against closing anything or doing anything that could be unpopular, or deflecting blame for enforcement of anything like a mandate.

We get that, especially since we’re all conflicted about what’s right and wrong. We’re all here and we need to get along to begin to have any sort of effect.

But if we want to protest what the governor forces upon us, we might want to consider asking our local leaders to propose our own courses of action, comprised of actual things that could be done at a level that’s acceptable to us – beyond just saying what we shouldn’t have to do, they could outline for us exactly what we should be doing of our own free will.

In a story last week, our local assemblyman confirmed that he’s not supportive of the governor and his mandates. But he didn’t stop there ... he also said, “In order to limit the spread, do your best to keep up on washing your hands, keeping distances and wearing a facial covering when you can’t.”

That isn’t going anywhere that you’d consider far reaching; but it’s at least something. And it’s likely that a lot of our local leaders – government and business – think the same thing or have their own versions about what they think is an acceptable level of action, including protocols and mandates ... or not.

We want the governor to pay attention to our circumstances and what we decide, democratically, should be done. But what are we telling him?

Not that he’s the important one. We’re the important ones – local citizens. What should we be doing? Avoiding parties? Increase distancing inside restaurants? More sanitizing? Mask mandates?

How things develop (and with what speed) means local leaders can’t have said what they think six months ago concerning the pandemic and believe they’ve wrapped things up. Local guidance beyond the lonely voice of the Bi-county Health officer should be forthcoming frequently.

Around the time – just a week or so ago – that a curfew was announced and local law enforcement reported they wouldn’t be enforcing it, Assemblyman Gallagher and others were reminding us to preserve our freedoms but to wash our hands, followed by reports that our local medical professionals are worrying as numbers of patients grow, bed availability declines and personnel are spread thin.

The pandemic is very real. And things change a lot. What’s our local plan, leaders?