Posted on 05/11/2020 6:55:13 PM PDT by lightman
Gov. Tom Wolf pushed back forcefully - and with some apparent success - Monday on a brushfire of opposition in central and eastern Pennsylvania counties to his ongoing coronavirus pandemic lockdown.
In uncharacteristically blunt language, Wolf accused local elected officials proposing to break out of the state’s phased reopening plan of “caving in” to the virus, and starkly warned any business owners temped to open ahead of his schedule that by doing so they are playing with liability issues and their customers and employees’ lives.
“We Pennsylvanians are in a fight for our lives. The enemy is a deadly virus, set on destroying us," Wolf said, adopting a war-like footing as he opened a mid-day briefing with an appeal to all Pennsylvanians to stay on a course that he said has been marked by real progress including 37 counties now starting or scheduled to start to reopen, and a hospital system that was never overwhelmed by COVID-19 cases.
“Over this past weekend, some have decided to surrender to this enemy,” Wolf said, adding “these folks are choosing to desert in the face of the enemy, in the middle of a war that we Pennsylvanians are winning and that we must win.”
The governor - with the momentum of federal and state court decisions in support of his emergency declarations at his back - also wielded the dual hammers of threatening to withhold federal pandemic funding from counties to stepped out of line, and threatening businesses that opened prematurely with licensing or other health department sanctions.
The response was not unanimous.
But PennLive’s sampling of county officials that had been openly threatening to unilaterally move themselves into the state’s initial “yellow” stage for reopening found several stepping back from the brink Monday afternoon, and others saying that they are re-evaluating and will make final decisions later in the week.
Several commissioners said, after looking at it more carefully, the risk of defiance simply seemed to outweigh the rewards.
Many of those represented counties, like York County, that now meet new case incidence thresholds for consideration to a move to yellow, where with a real chance to get there in agreement with Wolf, this doesn’t seem right the right time to fight over it.
In a Facebook Live meeting with constituents Monday, York Commissioners Chair Julie Wheeler commended residents on making considerable progress against COVID-19 cases in the past four weeks and declared York “ready to make the shift to the yellow phase.” But when asked by residents to clarify whether the county was moving into yellow or not, Wheeler said the board is just lobbying, not acting.
Others, after consultation with their solicitors, have concluded they don’t have the legal standing to do it.
“This move, we are advised, has no legal basis, and would not stand up, and could actually endanger the business licenses of those who defy the state of emergency declaration,” said Cumberland County Commissioner Gary Eichelberger, who said his board agreed - even before the governor’s tirade on Monday - to continue making their best case to Wolf while in compliance with the state regs.
Perry County commissioners discussed the possibility at a meeting Monday morning and decided to stick with Gov. Wolf’s phased-in plan, at least for now.
In Pennsylvania’s scheme, yellow is not a return to pre-pandemic normalcy, by a long shot.
Its conditions continue to require the closure of bars and restaurants, except for take-out orders; all entertainment venues like movie theaters, casinos and motor racetracks; and all public gatherings are to be limited to 25 or fewer. Personal services businesses like barbershops, tattoo parlors and nail salons area also to be closed, and organized sports are banned.
But it would allow many more retailers, manufacturing companies and commercial offices to re-open, and it is a prerequisite to a full reopening.
Some of the strongest resistance to the state’s plan, of course, is coming from counties that have had bigger coronavirus case counts, and may face longer waits to reopen, like Lebanon, Dauphin and Lancaster.
Josh Parsons, chairman of the Lancaster County board, said Monday he is still inclined to go forward with a county declaration of reopening for Lancaster, with or without Wolf’s approval, by Friday.
“Although he started out in the crisis with great reserves of good will," Parsons said of Wolf, “he’s squandered it all and I am now overwhelmed with calls and e-mails and other kind of contact from people demanding that we reopen, and understandably so. He’s provided them no hope. He’s provided in Lancaster County no course to get out of this.”
Lancaster is in a better position than most to act unilaterally - if it in fact does - because it is large enough population-wise that it received its federal pandemic relief directly from the Washington. Other counties will be more reliant on the administration as a pass-through for the funding, and “the reward for desertion cannot be that you’re just like everybody else and get the discretionary funding," Wolf said. "Discretionary funding will go to those places that are doing everything they ought to do to keep their citizens safe.”
That reality mattered to many.
“We know where are the (COVID-19) problems are, and where our problems are the state didn’t fix, but we’re not going to do a resolution,” said a perturbed Alice Gray, chairman of the Juniata County commissioners. “I mean, we’re very tiny, and for us to jeopardize the (business) licenses and the insurance for folks... that’s all I can say.”
In Lebanon County, where this mini-revolution started last week, Commission Chairman Robert Phillips said he’s re-evaluating in the wake of Wolf’s threats from Monday.
"We have hardships we’re trying to remedy and with the number of cases in our county, we thought this (unilateral county action) was justified,” Phillips continued, noting store owners are having trouble paying mortgages, and residents can’t finalize wills, settle estates or conduct real-estate transactions without some access to county row offices, which are currently closed.
Phillips said his county can’t move to “green” status until it gets to yellow and that commissioners wanted to make that move to yellow to give residents some hope.
“Saving face or saving the funding, that’s where we are,” Phillips conceded in an interview with PennLive “In the big picture, we may be right but if that’s the cost, we need to weigh whether that’s worth the price.”
Both the Lebanon and Dauphin boards are scheduled to meet Wednesday.
Commissioners in another central Pennsylvania county promoting revolt, Schuylkill, did not return calls for comment.
Many county prosecutors have said they would likely not prosecute citations issued under the business closure orders because of what they considered the constant changes in the rules out of Harrisburg.
But as Wolf noted Monday, enforcement has been left more to information and moral suasion than fines thus far. If necessary, however, he noted the state can also use its business licensing and other regulatory hammers.
Liquor licenses, building occupancy permits and the like all “depend upon you doing everything you can to keep your patrons safe,” Wolf said, addressing business owners directly, “and by opening before the evidence suggests you should you’re taking undue risks with the safety of your customers. That’s not only morally wrong. It’s also really bad business.”
County commissioners, as a whole, are still likely to get some support in the form of a proposed bill scheduled for a vote in the state Senate Wednesday that would specifically write into law their authority to make decisions about reopening their economies and public life on a county-by-county basis.
“They (the Wolf Administration) called it a balancing act, and there’s been no balance," Senate Majority Leader Jake Corman, R-Centre County, said after Monday’s session. "The governor has not looked at any of the (economic or emotional) carnage that’s been created by this shutdown... At some point you have to weigh in the other side that’s being created by the cure, and I don’t think the governor’s done that adequately, and that’s what we’re hearing from the local communities.”
With the battle lines so clearly drawn by Wolf Monday, it seemed hard to see a scenario where Wolf would sign that into law. Corman, R-Centre County, said it’s a question he feels Wolf should have to answer because people all across the state need economic help.
But on the whole, this seemed to be a day where the governor seemed to preserve some of his authority in largely uncharted territory.
Even where the county commissioners are still threatening action, mayors in their largest cities, like Lancaster and Harrisburg, have said they wouldn’t recognize such a county declaration.
“The city is still red until the governor declares it otherwise," said Lancaster Mayor Danene Sorace. “And we are doing everything we can to move out of that category as quickly and safely as possible and, definitely, please before June 4. But we will need the county’s cooperation to help us do that.”
As Cumberland’s Eichelberger put it Monday, he and his colleagues will certainly continue to make their best case for launching the reopening as soon as it can be safely done. But, “there is a huge difference between “taking action,” and taking effective action. We need to be smart, as well as persistent.”
Of course they left out stuff like that. The local rag in Springfield Massachusetts, which has the website mass live, frequently leaves out things like that in the reporting and would constantly get called out on it when they allowed comments.
WAEB’s Gunther said this morning something to the effect: we can have sanctuary cities for illegals, why can’t we have sanctuary counties for small businesses?
RAT fascist politicians acting like fascists, who would have thought that would happen?
This. I see it all over the local FB pages and articles. Karen's too scared to lave their house, when they do they are wearing masks and gloves, ratting out people in a park, or someone walking the wring way down a isle at the grocery store.
People like that while physically alive, are dead inside. They gave up. They are existing day to day wondering how they might have killed someones grandma for accidentally stepping 1 ft too close to someone to get canned goods, etc. You can see it in their eyes, they are dead inside, while telling us they are not scared but doing their part because we are all in this tougher.
Good for Lancaster and Dauphin. Both of these counties rely on seasonal tourism for alot of their income, with Dauphin being the home of Hershey Park/Resorts.
#16. Tyrants always call the “workers/peasants” who oppose their dictatorial rule “cowards”. I thought this ended in America in 1781 at Yorktown and later, in a stupid war by the British, at New Orleans 1814.
like someone said today- the citizens should threaten, as a group- combined- to withhold their taxes from the gov- two can play hardball- if enough did this- then the gov can’t imprison everyone - this could very well start tax rebellions all over the country in liberal states that are lording it over their citizens- opening up a huge can of worms
[[(1) How many are there of “them”?
(2) How many are there of “the people”?]]
Exactly- get enough businesses to all open at the same time and let that thug come and close all of them- He will be booted out of office so fast he won’t know what happened if he tried ATTACKING His own state like that
Sometimes I wear my mask, sometimes not. It is only recommended not mandatory here in Louisiana for the public. When I see a Karen staring me down in disapproving glances, I just stare right back. It works. They drop eye contact.
They cannot handle direct confrontations.
And our Gov Edwards lifted statewide stay at home order. Phase 1 starts Friday!
We’re open for business y’all!!
It is required in my state unless you have a medical condition that would prevent you from wearing it and stores can’t ask about it similar to Service dogs. Most stores just have a sign by the door about the rule and don’t enforce it.
I live in a “red” county (Berks) but yesterday drove up to Tioga County, a “Yellow” county to look at some property. I honestly didn’t see any difference. Everyone is still required to wear a mask and most businesses are still closed. This color scheme perpetrated by Wolf and Richard/Rachel is a sham.
This whole time Tioga and Potter Co. have single digit cases.
They could completely open up and Wolf knows it!
No state budget this year in PA due to burned bridges in Harrisburg.
Governor is the one “caving in” to the virus. He’s the one running scared.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.