Virtual ceremony marks year’s first meeting

SALINAS >> In a nod to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, three county supervisors were sworn in remotely during the year’s inaugural Board of Supervisors meeting Tuesday.

Incoming board chairwoman and new District 4 Supervisor Wendy Root Askew was joined by her family in a room at the County Government Center on West Alisal Street as she took the oath of office from her longtime and now former boss Jane Parker. Parker sat briefly in her seat on the board chambers dais at the start of the meeting before joining Askew, her husband Dominick Askew, mother Gail Root and her son for the ceremony.

District 1 Supervisor Luis Alejo was sworn in online by his mother Maria Luisa Covarrubias in a ceremony briefly interrupted in typical Zoom fashion by a loss of audio and video connection. District 5 Supervisor Mary Adams, who was later named vice chair, was sworn in by retired Judge Richard Silver at her home in Pebble Beach. Both Alejo and Adams won re-election unopposed.

While Tuesday’s morning session included plenty of praise for outgoing board chairman and District 3 Supervisor Chris Lopez and expressions of hope for Askew’s board leadership in her first term as a county supervisor, the demands of the pandemic dominated the discourse, as expected.

Lopez, also a longtime supervisorial aide before being elected in 2018, noted the unique challenges of leading the county board during a pandemic that included months of remote meetings amid social distancing dictates and a local economy devastated by closures.

At the same time, Lopez welcomed the birth of his first child, son Teodoro, and led the county’s response to a series of wildfires that struck the area during the summer, as well as the decennial census count.

“It was a different year and one that will leave a big mark on my life,” Lopez said.

Askew described Lopez’s term as board chair as “flying a plane that was still being built,” noting that he took the gavel as the crisis was emerging with relatively new County Administrative Officer Charles McKee and County Counsel Les Girard — although both are county government veterans.

At the same time, fellow supervisors noted that Askew will face her share of challenges with the pandemic from the start. Alejo described it as “a most critical time.” It will include the local roll- out