Demings likely to extend mandate
Orange County mayor says he’s frustrated by ‘partisan’ state response
Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings will likely extend and, potentially toughen, a “stay-at-home” order beyond April 9 and called on Gov. Ron DeSantis to infuse more leadership and less politics into the state’s response to the novel coronavirus pandemic.
Demings signed the order last week and expressed frustration that there wasn’t a more uniform approach to enforcing socialdistancing policies statewide.
DeSantis has refused to put a statewide order in place as other states have done, opting instead to shutdown bars and nightclubs and limit restaurants to take out. The governor ordered what he called “safer at home” rules on Monday for Broward, Miami-Dade and Palm Beach counties, which has been the epicenter of Florida’s outbreak for more than a week.
“I believe with full candor that political partisanship has played a role in the ineffective response to this pandemic during the early days,” Demings said Monday during a video-conference with the Sentinel’s Editorial Board.
The mayor said Florida, along with the rest of the nation, was caught unprepared for the crisis evidenced by unacceptably low levels of virus tests and samplecollection kits as well as not enough masks and other equipment for front line medical workers.
Demings, a Democrat, said DeSantis stood in stark contrast to former Gov. Rick Scott, now a U.S. senator. While both Scott and DeSantis are Republicans, Demings said Scott communicated regularly to city and county officials.
But DeSantis had not spoken to Demings, who leads a region that is a significant economic engine for the state, until he came to town last week for a press conference in the parking lot of the empty Orange County Convention Center, now a
state-run virus testing site.
Demings said he welcomed the governor and told him, “we’re here to work with you, not against you.” He said he’s not clear on who DeSantis is talking to in order to form his policies such as his opposition to a statewide stay-at-home order.
“Sometimes I wonder if he’s [DeSantis is] paralyzed by his relationship with the president, not wanting to offend the president,” Demings said.
DeSantis was endorsed by Trump and remains close with the White House.
Asked what he’d tell DeSantis, he said, “Governor, get with it. Be more communicative with your counties and your municipalities. Forget about partisan politics, forget about whatever relationship you may have with the president, put the people first here in Florida.”
While in Orlando last week, DeSantis defended his administration’s response to the pandemic.
He said he supported Demings’ action here and stay-at-home orders in South Florida where the outbreaks of Covid-19-related illnesses have been more widespread, but a state-wide lock-down was wrong.
“To order someone not to be able to earn a paycheck when them not going to work is not going to have any effect on what we’re doing with the virus is something that I think is inappropriate,” DeSantis said.
The governor mentioned in Orlando that he has conferred by phone with the president, who announced Sunday he was extending social distancing guidelines through the end of April rather than easing them this week.
Demings also expressed frustration with how the number of new virus cases reported each day by the state health department appear to lag behind reality, saying “the real numbers are higher than what the public sees.”
“I just believe we haven’t seen the worst of it yet — that is yet to come,” he said.
Four Orange County residents have died from the illness caused by the virus and 56 others have been hospitalized here. The Florida Department of Health counts 300 active cases among county residents. There are more than 5,700 statewide and the total death toll reached 70.
So far the county’s stayat-home order, which went into place Thursday night, has worked well, though the mayor, who previously served as county sheriff, said there may be need for more enforcement in the future.
Demings said stricter guidelines are possible but he did not provide details.