Tuesday, May 19, 2020

CoViD-19: ABC Offers Regulatory Relief | San Diego County Passes Motion to Accelerate Phase 2 and propose Phase 3 Pilot for Reopening

Adios, mariposa maravillosa
Oh, man. Today's post is gonna be super long. I think I'm going have to get out of the house today because the past two days of hikes really changed my overall mood and demeanor and I'd like to keep that going. Until I do that, I'm working outside for a little bit and listening to the County Supervisors meeting. I also spoke with Tim Mays this morning, so for anyone wondering, I've been "rehired" and ended my EDD/UI claim and we've got some Casbah stuff cooking for the near and distant future. For anyone following along with my posts, my butterfly is gone. I hadn't seen it at all over the weekend, but figured it was because of my late sleeping hours but it has either moved on or died and now we've got a couple monarchs hanging around. It was a beautiful little relationship while we had it. Anyway, the Supervisors just adjourned for lunch and it was a doozy, so I'll cut off this post now and continue with a new one when they reconvene.


  • Today is the San Diego County Board of Supervisors meeting and it is going to be long and exhausting. There are a lot of really sad stories about people getting eviction notices (despite the moratorium), people having to choose between rent and food, or working while sick, and a super rad call from a woman demanding an apology from Supervisor Desmond for disregarding the lost lives and using the false number of just six.
    It bums me out a little that several callers from ACCE speak in Spanish and the verb "exigir" which means "to require, demand, call for, exact, ask for, or need" is only being translated as "TO DEMAND" which has a lot stronger connotation in English, when in reality, the people calling are begging for help to cancel rent and mortgages, definitely not "demanding" at least the way we know it in English.
    There are also a bunch of privileged white folks who demonstrate they only give a shit about themselves, and sadly I heard an old friend calling in with some ridiculous call demanding full reopening of the economy immediately. Anyway, it's gonna be long, obviously county health has already decided that they're going to push the Governor for accelerated movement through Phase 2 and into Phase 3, so the meeting is quite meaningless, though required.  
    • Public testimony lasted 3 hours. 
    • Supervisors voted unanimously to pass accelerated Phase 2 plan.
    • Gaspar of course had to grandstand for comments and amendments even after the motion to pass was already seconded. Not that all her ideas were bad (looking at the Zoo and Safari Park being treated like an 'outdoor museum') but let's start where we are and calm down without rewriting the whole damn plan? 
    • Fletcher speaks against pilot program for Phase 3 when we haven't even finished Phase 2. "I just want to weigh in here. I fully support us moving into stage 2 and I want to thank all of the work that has been done to come up with the plan with our attesting to meeting the criteria that the Governor has outlined...Given that we have not even implemented Stage 2, I don't believe it's the time to call on the State to immediately allow us to go into Stage 3. The Governor has alluded to Stage 3 beginning the first week of June, merely two weeks away-less than two weeks away, and I think it is appropriate that we continue what has been a very responsible and very thoughtful reopening. Our ability to continue reopening is contingent upon our ability to do it in phases. And while I certainly understand the tremendous economic impact that this is having and I understand there's tremendous pressure that people are feeling, but I think that the lessons of history and the lessons of the present with the number of countries guide us to believe that doing this in a thoughtful and methodical way is best. So I fully support moving all the way through stage 2, and I think a week or so from now we'll be able to look at stage 3 moving forward, but I don't presently support on calling on the State to allow us immediately move through stage 3."
    • Item 7, Pilot program passes 4-1 with Fletcher the only nay. 
    • Pilot includes:
      • Research labs
      • Peer support
      • Sports clubs
      • personal services 
      • HOA pools
      • Outdoor religious services
  • ABC (Alcohol and Beverage Control) has offered three different notices of regulatory relief so far during this pandemic. These are the things that have allowed bars to do to-go drinks and delivery and lots of other relief items to keep money moving. Bar Pink, in fact, is open today from 2-8pm for to-go booze, beer, and wine for Tiki Tuesday. Yesterday, a fourth notice of relief was released that essentially allows any alcohol-serving bar or restaurant to expand to their parking lots and outdoor areas, so long as food is offered, which can be by food truck or other methods. This is dependent upon moving into the accelerated Phase 2, which could happen as early as tomorrow or in the next few days. It's a lot of mumbo-jumbo that I don't really have to understand, but it is good news for in-person consumption of food and beverages. 
    • Fourth Notice of Regulatory Relief: Pursuant to the Constitution of the State of California, Article XX, Section 22, and in furtherance of Governor Newsom’s emergency declarations and orders regarding the spread of the COVID-19 virus, the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control previously provided temporary relief measures which remain in place, and the Department now adds two new measures to this list.
      • Expansion of Licensed Footprint
      • Extension of Regulatory Relief for Club Licenses: Type 50, 51 and 52
  • For all those people who were arguing that there shouldn't have been a stay-at-home order, or masks or social distancing in the first place, including the douche I used to know who called in, this was released this week from the Government Accountability Office, and the second from CDC about asymptomatic and presymptomatic transmission.

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