‘We are limping along’: Folsom urges Newsom to grant local control over reopening economy
Calls from local officials in California to loosen stay-at-home orders meant to slow the spread of the coronavirus have largely come from the state’s coastal and rural communities.
Now, the city of Folsom has joined the growing list of cities and counties demanding California Gov. Gavin Newsom give local governments the power to choose when and how they lift restrictions, the first city in Sacramento County to do so.
Public health experts have said California’s March 19 stay-at-home order has been a major factor in minimizing the impact of the virus on hospitals and emergency rooms. But after more than six weeks of staying indoors and physical distancing, the patience of many Californians has begun to wear thin.
The letter from Folsom sent Thursday reveals the cracks that are beginning to emerge between the region’s rural and suburban communities, and more urban areas. Already, Sacramento has become a site for the unfolding debate — on Friday, several hundred people gathered outside the Capitol to protest the government’s restrictions on gatherings at businesses, schools and churches. A similar protest occurred last month.
Local businesses are in a “stranglehold,” Folsom officials wrote in their letter to Newsom, and the city has seen sales and hotel tax revenue plummet.
“We are limping along financially to finish out this fiscal year and get through the next one,” reads the Folsom letter signed by mayor Sarah Aquino and city manager Elaine Andersen. “Please allow individual counties to control their own destinies.”
Though the coronavirus continues to infect residents in Sacramento County, Folsom officials said no one in the city has tested positive since April 17 besides a “very small cluster” at a senior assisted living facility.
At least 16 residents and five staff members at the Oakmont of Folsom Senior Living have been diagnosed with COVID-19, according to an email the center’s executive director sent to residents and family members last week.
Local elected officials up and down the state have described Newsom’s indefinite statewide stay-at-home order as a one-size-fits-all plan that doesn’t take into account different coronavirus case rates and geography. Crowds at reopened beaches, particularly in Orange County last weekend, led Newsom to double-down and announce a “hard close” of state beaches and parks there Thursday.
In the Sacramento region, the cities of Roseville and Placerville, as well as El Dorado, Sutter, Yuba, and Butte counties have already sent similar letters to Newsom, arguing the closure of non-essential businesses is causing irreparable damage to their local economies.
The League of California Cities has predicted local governments will experience a general fund revenue shortfall of nearly $7 billion over the next two fiscal years related to the pandemic. Folsom’s letter asks the state to create a city revenue stabilization fund of at least that amount to help cities get back on their feet.
“In order to continue to be a full partner with the state in saving lives, protecting our communities, and ultimately recovering from this crisis, we need your help,” the letter reads.
More than 1,400 people have been infected by the coronavirus in Sacramento County, and 42 have been killed from complications stemming from COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus. In Folsom, 43 people have been infected and one person has died.
This story was originally published May 1, 2020 at 3:26 PM with the headline "‘We are limping along’: Folsom urges Newsom to grant local control over reopening economy."