HomeMy WebLinkAbout4/21/2020 Item 11, Barry
From:Emily Barry <
To:Harmon, Heidi; E-mail Council Website; info@jordancunningham.org
Subject:Inquiry on the proposed reopening of SLO county
First of all, I would like to thank the county of SLO for the work it has done flattening the curve. I
appreciate the press conferences and the county’s transparency in the fight against the virus. However,
all of that hard work will be for nothing if we reopen too quickly. I have seen that SLO elected officials
contacted Gavin Newsom in hopes of reopening the county. There are already day tourists coming in
from the Central Valley that come on our trails, do not wear masks, and I even saw an account of
tourists mocking grocery store workers in SLO for wearing masks. If we decide to reopen, SLO will be
one of the only California counties open. This will make the county, an already desirable tourist
destination, a hotspot for out of county and state travelers. We will be completely overrun with people
coming in from counties that have many more cases than we do. If we do decide to reopen, is there any
plan for closing off our county to the rest of California? Because if not, reopening soon would be an
incredibly selfish thing to do to the citizens of the county who are working their hardest at flattening the
curve. It would be an absolute insult. I live next to a hotel, with elderly parents. If the hotel were to
reopen, we wouldn’t be able to even walk our dog outside our house without fear of exposure, as the
area gets so busy when the hotel is packed. In the days leading up to the county’s shutdown, the hotel
parking lot was completely full - even when people knew the risks of traveling, they still come here, to
our county, home to many senior citizens.
Our small businesses are important and I wish there was more of a safety net for them that was being
implemented. However, is the solution truly to rush to reopening everything, even if it means our
citizens dying?
I know many others feel the same way as I do. Please make the right decision for the well-being of our
county’s most vulnerable.
Thank you,
Emily, a Morro Bay citizen
Sent from my iPhone
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