Memorandum
Date: January 5, 2021
To: The Honorable Lake County Board of Supervisors
From: Moke Simon, District 1 Supervisor
Subject: Consideration of Temporarily Closing the Board of Supervisors Chambers for in-person meetings
Executive Summary: (include fiscal and staffing impact narrative):
COVID-19 cases are on the rise in Lake County and throughout California. In recent weeks, there have been a number of positive cases identified in County facilities and action has been taken. As visible community leaders, it is our Board's responsibility to model appropriate caution for local residents and businesses. You will recall that we closed our facilities during the shelter in place order in Spring 2020. We later reopened our Board Chambers to the public on 06/20/20. With increasing concern, we reconsidered a proposal to revert to virtual meetings on 07/14/20 and determined to stay the course, keeping the Chambers open. Unfortunately, the rate of infection in the community changed significantly in the Fall and is worsening as we enter the Winter of 2020.
Allowing members of the public in the Board Chambers invites the kind of large gatherings we are seeking to avoid, in order to slow the spread of the virus. It has been obvious that most people remain most comfortable participating remotely, as we have consistently had far more zoom participants join our meetings than we had in-person participants, even before the pandemic.
At this time, continuing to host the public in the Chambers, with some people on-site, with recirculating air, for extended periods of time, despite being socially distanced, has the potential to place members of the public, our employees and ourselves at unnecessary and avoidable risk of contracting the virus. As you are likely aware, based on similar concerns, the courts have suspended jury trials and our County neighbors to the west have been conducting virtual Board meetings for months - with their chambers and County offices close...
Click here for full text