COUNTY SUPERVISORS TO WEIGH NEW APPROACH TO PANDEMIC
Proposed policy will focus on equity; vote set next Tuesday
The county Board of Supervisors will consider a new approach to battling the COVID-19 pandemic, with more funding directed to communities hardest hit by the disease and more cooperation with state and county health officials.
Board Chair Nathan Fletcher, who sits on the county’s COVID-19 subcommittee with newly elected Supervisor Nora Vargas, said the proposal being presented to the Board of Supervisors next Tuesday is a step toward undoing some actions by the previous board so the county will have a more cooperative relationship with the state.
“I think the COVID response from the board has been erratic and not consistently on the side of public health and slowing the spread of COVID-19,” Fletcher said.
“So one of the things we will be docketing on our first board meeting is basically us making a definitive and clear statement as a county board that we support public health. We support our medical doctors. And we support making the difficult and tough decisions to guide our community through the COVID-19 pandemic.”
The proposed policy going before the board reads in part: “It is hereby resolved that County of San Diego’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic will be based on scientific evidence outlining best practices, emphasizing a collaborative approach with the State of California and with a particular focus on equity.”
The proposal also calls for prioritizing geographic areas and populations most impacted by COVID-19 when distributing state and federal dollars.
Past COVID funding distributions have been evenly spread among the county’s five districts represented by the board.
Vargas represents District 1, an area that includes the South Bay and other communities with large Latino populations, which have a disproportionate number of coronavirus infections.
Focusing more money on areas hardest hit by COVID-19 will help contain the spread of the disease and provide relief to people who need it most, she said.
“I ran on building healthy and strong communities prior to the pandemic,” she said about her campaign. “And when the pandemic hit, the inequities really were demonstrated.”
Vargas noted that Latinos make up 34.1 percent of the area’s population but represent 57.6 percent of the region’s total COVID-19 cases, or more than 83,400 people.
Over the past year, the board and individual supervisors have sent seven letters and passed one resolution opposing the state’s public health orders or asking for restrictions to be relaxed.
A new letter going to the board and signed by
Fletcher and Vargas states that the board’s past actions have contradicted and questioned the county’s public health officer.
“These actions have harmed our public health response and undermined confidence in our strategy,” the letter reads.
The composition of the board changed this week with the swearing in on Monday of Vargas, Terra Lawson-Remer and Joel Anderson.
Fletcher had been the only Democrat on the board for the past two years. Now he has been joined by fellow Democrats Lawson-Remer and Vargas. Fletcher became board chair and Vargas became vice chair on Tuesday.
Both supervisors said the new board will have a more progressive approach to county policies.
“My hope is the majority Board of Supervisors will clearly state COVID is real,” Fletcher said.
“We have to make difficult decisions in order to slow the spread and protect life. And we have to not just acknowledge it, but take action to help those communities that are disproportionately impacted by COVID, and in particular our Latino communities.”
Fletcher also said the board could revisit the need to have more enforcement of the public health order that is being violated by some restaurants and other businesses that have remained open during a state stayhome order.