Whatcom seeking more leeway to open businesses despite local infection numbers
Whatcom County Council members are asking Gov. Jay Inslee to consider giving local governments more discretion in how and when businesses can reopen as the new coronavirus pandemic eases.
An unsigned copy of that letter would be emailed to the governor on Friday, May 22, Council Clerk Dana Brown-Davis told The Bellingham Herald.
Brown-Davis said Council President Barry Buchanan said he would sign the letter Tuesday, May 26, so a physical copy could be sent.
“While we have been focused and successful on limiting the negative health impacts of COVID-19, we also don’t want to create other crises of a failing economy,” a draft of the letter said.
It was written by Councilman Ben Elenbaas and discussed at the council’s online meeting Tuesday, May 19.
“Currently we have very little leeway in doing the job that is expected of us,” the letter said. “Moving forward, we would like you to consider modifying your order to allow county governments that have well-established health departments, administrations and functional legislative bodies to be more in control of their own futures as we reopen.”
It passed the council on a vote of 6-0, after Councilman Todd Donovan told The Bellingham Herald that he disconnected from the online session.
“My last words were, ‘I don’t want to have anything to do with this,’ ” Donovan said. “I don’t think it’s a good message to be sending.”
Donovan emailed his own response to the governor’s office on Thursday, May 21, 2020.
“Please re-open our counties based on data and sound logic, not specious arguments,” Donovan’s letter said.
“Fortunately, council did remove from the letter references to conspiracy theories about re-opening being linked to approval of the Green New Deal,” he wrote. “But that remains the context from which this letter was approved. We’re doing a great job here in Whatcom County. I hope you stay the course and continue to make decisions based on sound data.”
All but essential Washington state businesses were closed March 24 under Inslee’s orders to limit the spread of COVID-19.
Some “non-essential” workers have been able to telecommute from home during the pandemic closure, but others have been idled and applied for unemployment in record numbers.
Inslee’s stay-home order has been modified to allow for a phased end to closures and relaxation of social-distancing rules.
Some 14 of Washington’s 39 counties are in Phase 2, and an additional 11 counties were allowed to apply for Phase 2, according to a statement from Inslee’s office on Friday.
Whatcom was not one of those counties.
“To apply for a variance, counties must have an average of less than 10 new cases per 100,000 residents over a 14-day period,” Inslee’s statement said. “The application process requires support from the local health officer, the local board of health, local hospitals, and the county commission/council.”
Whatcom County, with an estimated 2020 population of 221,650 people, saw 33 new COVID-19 infections and one COVID-19 death in the two-week period from May 8 to May 22, according to Herald reporting.
