I guess now’s the time for the Central Coast to really come into its own. While Northern Californians like Gov. Gavin Newsom obviously think Santa Barbara and SLO counties are so SoCal, rebellion is brewing.
All thanks to the most recent iteration of California’s last-minute COVID-19 guidelines. While the state was split into counties for most of the pandemic’s duration, Newsom announced an emergency upgrade at the beginning of December. Five regions! So all of that work that went into keeping the counties separate, doing their own data tracking, COVID-19 testing, public health outreach, and hospital bed coordination—it’s moot.
Why is the Southern California region the largest in the state, by volume and population? It’s about 350 miles long and 250 miles wide, with the San Joaquin Valley region plopped squarely in the middle of its north end.
You know what it reminds me of? Santa Barbara County’s 3rd District, which stretches from almost the county’s eastern border to Solvang to Guadalupe, with District 4 plopped squarely in the middle of its north end.
And people on the Central Coast are pissed! Because Los Angeles is dragging us down. The COVID-19 numbers down there are not good at all, and we’ve just entered a regional stay-at-home order because of it.
“It’s as if we’re being punished for having behaved well,” Santa Barbara County 3rd District Joan Hartmann said during the Dec. 8 meeting.
“The governor’s most recent order, which will lead to a lockdown of San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara counties, is arbitrary, irrational, and bordering on punitive,” Assemblyman Jordan Cunningham (R-San Luis Obispo) wrote in a statement released shortly after the governor’s Dec. 3 pronouncement.
Well, Ventura, SLO, and Santa Barbara counties are trying to get the governor to change his mind, recently penning a letter requesting California create a sixth region made up of them.
“The utilization of such a large and diverse regional assignment is not reflective of the risks for our Central Coast,” the letter states.
Assert that independence!
I mean, I guess, we could also go the way that 4th District Supervisor Peter Adam seems to favor: Outright defiance of the state’s recent order. It sounds very Orange County!
It also sounds very Solvang! Those renegades.
There, a loud but vocal minority of the usual suspects threatened the Solvang City Council to basically secede from the SoCal region.
“If you do not, your legacy will have a black spot in our history,” Lammy “Recall-Ready” Johnstone told the council on Dec. 7.
Oh no, a black spot. Shudder!
While City Councilmember Karen Waite pushed back against the tone of renegade residents, City Attorney Chip Wullbrandt and his buddy Mayor Ryan Toussaint seemed to be all for defiance!
“How, oh how, can we defy state orders and not be held liable for it?” the council asked. Well, Wullbrandt was ready with some helpful suggestions!
Follow the lead of Redondo and Manhattan Beach. These cities declared that tables and chairs in front of restaurants are public spaces: So you can purchase to-go food, eat outdoors in front of your favorite restaurant, and still be in total compliance with state law.
Just spray those chairs down and schedule extra trash pickup, Solvang. Boom! COVID-19 problem solved.
The canary thinks aerial disinfectant might solve it all. Send thoughts to canary@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Dec 10-17, 2020.
