Rural resentment: Masks sparse in Sierra foothills; hate for rules is plentiful
Little changed this week at Steve’s Sportsmans Cafe, despite the new, farreaching shutdown orders that cover much of the Sierra foothills.
The small restaurant in mountainous Mariposa County, with its game mounts and American flags, continued to serve up chickenfried steak and braised beef ribs. Owner Steve Knauf, 60, said he’s just not interested in taking cues from Sacramento anymore.
“I think they’re trying to instill fear for something that’s not there,” Knauf said.
Knauf’s sentiment has been a common one, particularly in the rural reaches that make up much of the 12county San Joaquin Valley region that the state told Monday to halt all but essential services because of the pandemic. The order, following months of shifting and often
unpopular restrictions, appears to be only fanning frustration, if not outright defiance.
Public health officials say the backlash, which is also growing in parts of Southern California and the Bay Area, will make it harder to stop the spread of the coronavirus as the number of statewide cases soars to new peaks.
In Mariposa, a Gold Rushera town where residents relish their Wild West roots while providing modernday conveniences to Yosemite-bound tourists, some spots simply feel like 2019 — before the pandemic. In many places, masks are sparse, social distancing is optional, and shops and restaurants take limited precautions.
“My customers don’t want me to shut down, and I’m not going to,” said Robbie Nelson, 68, owner of the Airport Inn Bar and Grill, which was packed Wednesday with few people donning facial protection.
Until recently, Nelson and her husband, who started their business 12 years ago, had been playing by the state’s rules. They limited dining to the outdoors and took the temperatures of their patrons before seating them.
However, after months of regulation, which had Mariposa County progressing toward less onerous restrictions but then backtracking, the backandforth stopped making sense to Nelson. With this week’s directive, she said she could no longer neglect her plummeting finances.
When a county official told her Sunday she’d have to close to onsite service, she cried.
“I decided this is enough, I’m not going to take it,” Nelson said. “People are dining in full capacity now, and everybody loves it.”
Not quite everybody. Eric Sergienko, the county’s health officer, is not amused.
While Mariposa County was one of California’s last places to see a confirmed case of COVID19 and infections in the 18,000person county remain relatively low, case numbers have been on the rise. The sparsely developed area has been forced to rely on hospitals in neighboring San Joaquin Valley communities, which are rapidly filling up. As of last count, just 5.6% of the intensive care unit beds in the 12county region under lockdown were available.
Sergienko is encouraging people to follow the state’s guidelines, even sending county workers to a grocery store this week to hand out face masks. He acknowledges, though, it’s tough to change behaviors.
“People here tend not to want to wear masks, and there’s not a lot of enforcement,” he said. “We do our best to educate people, but there’s only so much we can do.”
The Mariposa County Sheriff’s Office, similar to law enforcement agencies elsewhere in the San Joaquin Valley, said it doesn’t have the “capacity” to deal with violations of coronavirus restrictions.
Mariposa County Supervisor Marshall Long, who stopped by the Airport Inn for an iced tea on Wednesday, criticized the restrictions as too inflexible. While he encourages people to take safety precautions, he understands why businesses
are disobeying the state’s rules. He plans to introduce a symbolic resolution before his county’s board calling for local control of coronavirus measures.
“We have to live our lives,” he said. “People are at the end of their ropes.”
Gov. Gavin Newsom has said he prefers education over enforcement but would withhold state funding from counties that flout his directives. The California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control has been visiting bars and restaurants this week to inform people of the new shutdown order, but as of Wednesday afternoon had not taken any punitive actions.
With the promise of a vaccine for the virus arriving soon, the governor has urged residents to remain vigilant just a little longer.
Under Newsom’s latest plan, California is split into five geographic areas, with each assigned restrictions based on the
number of available ICU beds at local hospitals. Like the San Joaquin Valley, Southern California is in virtual lockdown, and several Bay Area counties have voluntarily embraced the same level of restrictions. The greater Sacramento area, which includes Lake Tahoe, is expected to be put on lockdown Thursday night.
The restrictions stay in place for at least three weeks or until ICU bed capacity increases.
While medical experts say social distancing and masking is imperative, reviews have been mixed on the state’s new tactics. Some say the backlash is understandable.
Monica Gandhi, an infectious disease specialist at UCSF, said the state’s approach is overly broad. It isn’t being tailored to suit different situations, she said, and some of the rules may even contradict the latest science, such as prohibitions on outdoor gathering. A perceived lack of rationale, coupled with people’s struggling financial situations, fuels resentment, she said.
“In rural areas, what are you supposed to do if you’ve invested in outdoor dining for your restaurant and you don’t find the rules credible?” Gandhi said.
“It’s not ( just) about civil liberties anymore,” she added. “It’s about poverty and the privilege that’s involved in the phrase ‘ stay at home.’ How can I stay at home if my daytoday putting food on the table depends on my being at work?”
At the Ace hardware store in Mariposa, owner Troy Foster says he’s been one of the “lone” businessmen in town toeing the state’s safety line. He requires his staff to wear masks and even stations one employee at the door to make sure customers have facial protection.
His policy, at least initially, didn’t win him much favor. The lifelong Republican, who voted for President Trump last month, said unhappy patrons threatened to take their shopping list to the community’s other hardware store. That didn’t stop Foster — he banned nearly two dozen residents from his shop for repeatedly refusing to put on a mask.
“We want our people safe,” he said. “We want our customers safe. I personally don’t run around being afraid ( of COVID-19). But that’s how we operate in the store.”
As more coronavirus cases have emerged in Mariposa, Foster says he’s won increasing support for his stance on safety.
“I had two people stop me in the grocery store today and say, ‘ You’re the Ace guy. Thank you,’ ” he said.
Sergienko, at the health department, is also seeing a few people come around.
“If we get more partial compliance, that’s good,” he said. “Even just another 10% of people, I’ll take it.”
“I decided this is enough, I’m not going to take it. People are dining in full capacity now, and everybody loves it.” Robbie Nelson, owner of Airport Inn Bar and Grill in Mariposa