The Lompoc City Council has joined an effort appealing to Gov. Gavin Newsom to grant the Central Coast an exit from its designated Southern California region, which remains under a stay-at-home order due to a surge in COVID-19 cases.
Santa Barbara County's currently assigned region consists of 11 counties including Los Angeles and extending as far south as San Diego County.
After the Dec. 15 Lompoc City Council meeting where members unanimously voted to submit a letter in favor of redesignating Santa Barbara County, Lompoc Mayor Jenelle two days later wrote a letter to Newsom expressing concern about the stay-at-home order.
“The city of Lompoc is concerned current restrictions, such as no outdoor dining at local restaurants, will drive up the risky behavior of households mixing in private homes, socializing without masks and social distancing,” the letter stated.
“Allowing the [Tri-Counties] to become its own Central Coast [region] will not significantly affect the ICU availability rates of the Southern California region, since the remaining counties are much larger size and populations," she said. "However, it will have a profound impact on the Santa Barbara, Ventura and San Luis Obispo communities.”
The Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors and Santa Barbara County Public Health Department, as well as Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo and Ventura counties, have made joint appeals to the governor, requesting that the Central Coast be classified as its own region — the Central Coast region.
Part of that request includes permission to exit from the regional stay-at-home order if intensive care unit capacity in the three counties exceeds 15%, according to city officials. An ICU rate that fell below 15% is what triggered the existing order.
Santa Barbara County officials are inviting residents and business operators throughout the county to submit comments to the Governor's Office seeking removal from the Southern California region and inclusion in a new Central Coast region.
Comments can be emailed to CentralCoastRegionSBC@countyofsb.org.
The California Department of Public Health updated their regional ICU occupancy percentage on Tuesday, March 30.
Series: Lompoc City Council
Read this collection of stories on Lompoc City Council from the past year. Read all of our coverage of local government in Vandenberg Village and the Lompoc Valley on LompocRecord.com.
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