The public comment period at this week’s Board of Supervisors meeting lasted longer than an average Major League Baseball game with nearly as much jeering and booing of the umpires as you might expect. In actuality, however, the “umpires” are not the local supervisors.
Here’s hoping cooler heads will prevail. We have news that may help in that regard. The State of California has finally responded to the many pleas of our local officials, businesses, citizens and the Redding Chamber of Commerce.
The letter, from Dr. Mark Ghaly, Secretary of the California Health and Human Service Agency, acknowledges the efforts of the County of Shasta and gives a clue that local control may be coming back to the local level in the near future.
Here is the “meat & potatoes” of the letter:
“We are actively reassessing our guidance and public health orders in light of evolving scientific evidence regarding disease transmission and the risk of transmission in different settings. We plan to release a revised framework in the coming week. Both your verbal and written feedback has been taken into account. Our revised framework will duly recognize the various differences between counties and the differences between current disease transmission rates.”
This letter reaffirms some of Governor Newsom’s comments earlier this week that also hinted at returning to a regional variance model, following a progressive dip in daily cases and hospitalizations over the last 14 days. This “revised framework” can’t come soon enough for many of our local restaurants and small service and retail businesses in the community.
More Help is on the Way
We are pleased to be working alongside the City of Redding, County of Shasta, City of Anderson and City of Shasta Lake on what is cumulatively more than
$2 million in grants for eligible businesses across Shasta County. The latest $1.25 million in funding comes from the CARES Act and will be deployed in the form of $10,000 grants, which a business can use for operations expenses and capital improvements (i.e. outdoor dining shade structure, misters, lights, etc.). We will share the application link as soon as it goes LIVE. The Chamber believes that these funds will provide critical financial assistance to help businesses endure the crisis of the moment, as well as invest in the post-COVID world, which may be a great time of opportunity and growth as people flee metro areas for the fishing, biking, boating, floating, dining, craft brewing, coffee roasting, wine producing, lifestyle of the hub city of the “true north” of California.
In this frustrating situation, the one making the call is Governor Gavin Newsom and like a manager about to get tossed out of the game for arguing balls and strikes, many would like nothing more than to give him a piece of their mind and kick dirt on his lower pant legs.
