Lebanon County officials, business people seeing red over staying yellow in state’s reopening plan

Lebanon County officials were sputtering mad Friday at the Wolf Administration’s decision to leave it as the only one of Pennsylvania’s 67 counties that is not taking at least a partial step toward the green, or least restrictive, phase of the state’s coronavirus reopening plan next week.

The county’s four-member legislative delegation - which helped stoke the county commissioner’s decision to break out of the state’s reopening schedule last month - issued an open letter to county residents condemning Gov. Tom Wolf and his Health Secretary, Dr. Rachel Levine, for punishing the county.

“If there was ever any doubt that the governor and secretary of Health are more motivated by politics than concerns about public health, that doubt has been erased today,” the joint letter, signed by Sen. David Arnold and Reps. Ross Diamond, Sue Helm and Frank Ryan, stated in part. All are Republicans.

“We are all ardent supporters of transparency in government, and we can all see right through this punitive decision,” the lawmakers continued. “They (Wolf and Levine) own the so-called “data”, they disseminate the “data”, they use this same “data” to bully those who do not comply or who challenge their authority. Unfortunately, we have no way of verifying the accuracy of their “data”...

“As far as we are concerned the governor has lost all credibility regarding every aspect of his shutdown, and deserves only to be ignored. Lebanon Countians, and Pennsylvanians as a whole, should treat this edict with the same respect that he has treated all of us, absolutely none.”

A businesswoman who’s seen foot traffic at the Farmer’s Market in downtown Lebanon this spring said she considered their anger well-placed, arguing Pennsylvania has reopened way too slowly given the arc of coronavirus cases statewide.

“I think Wolf is like out of his mind drunk with power at this point,” said Kayleigh Momme, a nurse who with her fiance operates Harper’s Produce and Cafe at the market as a second income stream.

While she is continuing to sell produce, Momme said, they have decided to close their soup. sandwich and smoothie operation at the market because of the fall-off in foot traffic this spring, something Momme blames directly on the what she sees as the state’s hesitancy to open up.

But another Lebanon merchant, Richard Wertz of Wertz Candies, said Lebanon didn’t help itself by jumping out of line in the state’s plan this spring. “If we would have just listened back in May, followed the guidelines, everybody would have benefitted from that in the long run,” he told WGAL-TV Friday.

Lebanon’s challenge to Wolf’s authority boiled over on May 15, when the two majority Republican county commissioners passed a largely-symbolic resolution declaring the county in the “yellow” phase of the state’s pandemic reopening plan, effective immediately. Wolf reacted angrily at the time, and warned it could cost the county pandemic recovery down the road.

Lancaster County commissioners took a similar step, though Lancaster was approved to move to green today, effective June 26.

Wolf officials said Friday their decision regarding Lebanon’s reopening status was based solely on the numbers, and a look at new case rates over the last two weeks suggest that it does in fact have the highest new case incidence rate in the state over that time, moving from 1,021 to 1,226 over that time. That’s 144 new cases per 100,000 residents over that time.

“Lebanon County’s partisan, politically driven decision to ignore public health experts and reopen prematurely is having severe consequences for the health and safety of county residents,” Levine said in a news release announcing the latest reopening plans earlier Friday. “Case counts have escalated and the county is not yet ready to be reopened.”

County commissioners Robert Phillips and William Ames, who both supported the early reopening resolution, could not be reached for this report.

Jo Ellen Litz, the lone Democrat on the county commissioners board who opposed the May 15 resolution, did speak to PennLive by phone, and suggested her board colleagues and their legislative allies may now be reaping what they sowed last month.

“I’m not saying they gave anyone the virus directly,” Litz said. “But I believe they emboldened people to not wear their masks and that, to me, is one of the factors in why we’re seeing a resurgence in the case numbers here in Lebanon County.”

Litz said she hopes residents will take note of the county’s status, and pay careful attention to wearing masks and social distancing for the next two weeks to get things under control.

Litz said she did not think the governor was acting out of political spite, and said a better test of that will come when the state decides on Lebanon’s request for $12.8 million in federal CARES Act funding, that the commissioners hope to use to help small businesses and non-profits throughout the county recoup some of the COVID-related financial losses they’ve experienced.

In the state’s yellow phase, businesses are permitted to reopen expect for a specific list like movie theaters and other entertainment venues, restaurant dining rooms (though outdoor dining is permitted), and personal service businesses like barber shops and fitness centers. Retailers are supposed to keep their buildings at 50 percent capacity, and gatherings of more than 25 people are supposed to be prohibited.

In the green phase, retail stores can move to 75 percent capacity, and all of the businesses there were still shuttered in yellow, including restaurant dining rooms and movie theaters, can reopen at 50 percent capacity.

Lebanon is the little yellow quadralateral toward the SE end of the Commonwealth.

The lighter green counties will be in "Green" NEXT Friday, June 26.

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Lebanon is the largest city in the county. Lots of Hispanics who were more than happy to protest and march in the streets.

For Democrats to blame anything or anyone for staying at yellow, those protesters are alone at the top of the list.

The BLM protests changed the nationwide reopening into an experiment with TWO variables: The relaxing of restrictions and the mass protests.

So if cases soar, which will get the blame?

Which will be restricted?

Won’t be the protests.

I have been trying to find data that provides the number of tests along with the number of positive results, specifically for Lebanon County. I’m looking for a month by month count if possible.

My belief is that there are more positives because there are more tests being done, with the actual percentage being lower.

I have little doubt that Wolf is manipulating the numbers to punish our Republican commissioners for daring to stand up to him.

Any help would be appreciated.

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