Following a spirited debate, the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors
unanimously authorized administrative enforcement of public health order
violations on Thursday.
Effective immediately, under an “urgency
ordinance,” county personnel may fine individuals and businesses for
violations like holding a large gathering, not wearing a mask or not following
physical distance guidelines in a business.
A non-commercial violation is subject to a civil penalty of
$100. Commercial violations are subject to a $1,000 penalty for the first violation,
$5,000 for the second violation and $10,000 for the third violation by the same
responsible party.
“The intent is to start with compassionate enforcement and education and then to cite people who are jerks, who are looking back at our compassionate enforcement and saying, ‘I’m not going to put my mask on,’ or ‘I’m not going to shut my business.’ That’s who you fine. You don’t go out into a group of people and just start pulling out your ticket and just start throwing them out at anybody,” said Supervisor James Gore.
In passing the urgency ordinance, Sonoma County joins
neighboring Marin, Mendocino, Napa and Yolo counties.
County Counsel Bruce Goldstein said the ordinance could help
curb the county’s COVID-19 case rate “because law enforcement isn’t
sufficient.”
But it met a fervent backlash from members of the public
concerned about how it would affect immigrants and people of color.
“Noting that it is an emergency ordinance that would be
implemented today reveals that the focus is actually on enforcement, compliance,
fines and maybe even building revenue rather than on education, health and
safety and equity,” said county resident Anna Frattolillo.
“I am really concerned about the issue of enforcement
when you are talking about immigrants and community members who already have a
lot of fear related to law enforcement and immigration enforcement,” said
Christy Lubin, director of the Graton Day Labor Center.
The ordinance was inspired in part by concerns expressed
during a town hall Supervisors Lynda Hopkins and Susan Gorin by labor leaders
about safety in the workplace, Hopkins said.
How Coronavirus Has Grown in Each State — in 1 Chart
This chart shows the cumulative number of cases per state by number of days since the 50th case.
Source: The COVID Tracking Project
Credit: Amy O’Kruk/NBC
Before the ordinance took effect, health order violations
could result in a misdemeanor charge, coupled with a $500 fine.
“The goal was to actually take it out of the sheriff’s
hands and into our civil code enforcement process and set more reasonable fines
and couple that with education,” Hopkins said.
Hopkins enforcement data will be shared with the Office of
Equity and the Latinx Task Force to ensure that the Latinx community, already disproportionately
hurt by COVID-19, won’t be disproportionately affected by the new enforcement
effort.
The ordinance provides $143,132 for the county to create a
“robust education campaign” including fliers and door signs in
English and Spanish, ads in local newspapers and radio stations, a social media
campaign, information tables at grocery stores and work with local community organizations,
according to County Communications Manager Paul Gullixson.
The ordinance also created a hotline and email address where
members of the public can voice concerns over compliance, by calling 833-SAFE707
or emailing at safe707@sonoma-county.org.
Source: NBC Bay Area
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