City considers no confidence vote in health director
LANCASTER — The City Council will hold a special meeting on Thursday to consider a vote of no confidence in Los Angeles County Department of Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer, and whether to begin the process of gathering the necessary resources to start a public health department.
There was no supporting staff report to go with the special meeting agenda.
The meeting comes after Ferrer implemented a threeweek closure of in-person dining at county restaurants that started the day before Thanksgiving. The county had previously limited restaurants to outdoor seating.
The order, issued on Sunday, came after the county’s five-day average of new daily COVID-19 cases increased to more than 4,000, crossing a threshold set the previous week to trigger the closure of in-person dining at county restaurants. If the five-day average of cases rises to 4,500 or more, and hospitalizations are more than 2,000 per day, a modified Safer-at-Home order will go into effect for three weeks.
Supervisor Kathryn Barger, whose Fifth District includes the Antelope Valley, opposed the order.
“The current Health Orders seem to take the approach that sectors should remain closed throughout the entire County, instead of focusing only on necessary closures in sectors that carry an inordinate and proven risk,” Barger said in a statement. “There is no data to support closing dining establishments which makes this an arbitrary and capricious restriction — especially the day before Thanksgiving. Furthermore, this action will only further encourage individuals to participate in private gatherings, without any of the necessary public health safety measures, which is where the virus is more likely to spread.”
LA County Public Health reported 5,087 new COVID-19 cases on Thursday, with 37 new deaths due to the virus. There are 1,809 people hospitalized with COVID-19, according to the department.
The City of Lancaster’s fiveday average is about 100 new COVID-19 cases per day. As of Thursday the city had 5,993 total cases and 72 deaths.
Mayor R. Rex Parris has previously suggested the city explore opening its own pub
lic health department, as is the case with the cities of Long Beach and Pasadena, because the Antelope Valley’s COVID-19 numbers are lower than the overall county average. In May, Lancaster, and the cities of Palmdale and Santa Clarita worked with Supervisor Kathryn Barger to get a variance to move more quickly through the state’s phased reopening plan at the time because they have not been as severely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic as other parts of the county.
The meeting is scheduled to begin at 5 p.m. Thursday. Due to restrictions related to the ongoing pandemic the meeting will be conducted telephonically and video-streamed live on Channel 28 and the city’s website at www.cityoflancasterca. org/connect/public-meetings
Members of the public who wish to offer public comments on agendized items can dial 1-877-853-5257 using meeting id: 943 7696 5683# Password: 695643#.