Sacramento County may fine bars, gyms that violate COVID-19 restrictions
Faced with record numbers of COVID-19 cases, Sacramento County health officials will ask the county Board of Supervisors on Tuesday to approve an urgency ordinance that would allow the county to fine businesses that refuse to adhere to state and local virus safety rules.
It’s the latest move in what has turned out to be an eight-month balancing act by state and local governments who are, on one hand, trying to reduce the spread of the virus while, on the other, trying not to overly harm local businesses.
The goal of the urgency ordinance, health officials say, is to have more leverage over the small handful of businesses that defy orders, such as illegally opened bars and gyms or restaurants that insist on serving customers indoors. Officials said they would hope to use the threat of fines to persuade those businesses to follow the rules.
Already this summer and fall, some Sacramento gyms and yoga centers flouted the rules by remaining open when state and local officials attempted to mandate closures.
More recently, there has been a concerted push back from businesses. Three major central Sacramento business groups sent an open letter to the governor’s health office this week, warning that businesses will not survive the latest round of shutdown. The new shutdown in Sacramento includes requiring restaurants to stop indoor dining, and move back to only doing outdoor dining. The letter was signed by the Downtown Sacramento Partnership, Midtown Association and R Street Partnership.
The proposed ordinance is being reviewed by county attorneys. Officials said they have not yet determined what the fine amounts would be, but said the ordinance is patterned after a similar program in Yolo County that set $500 as a base fine for recalcitrant businesses.
“Most businesses are working well,” said county health chief Dr. Peter Beilenson. “But there are some bad actors.”
The ordinance would represent a notable step up from education to penalties. The enforcement would not be conducted by county or city law enforcement. It would be conducted by county business code inspectors and business environmental safety inspectors whose job it is to monitor businesses for safety practices, according to Dr. Olivia Kasirye, the county’s health officer, who is coordinating with Beilenson on the ordinance.
Sacramento and much of California have experienced a notable escalation in the number of infections reported in the last few weeks. That in turn has led to a surge in hospital cases this month. The number of patients currently in Sacramento County hospitals, 177 as of midweek, is more than double the amount from a month ago.
Sacramento County was demoted to the state’s most restrictive “purple” tier of business operation this week, meaning most businesses must stop indoor service as of Friday.
Supervisor Sue Frost, in an email statement to The Bee, said she does not like the idea of fining businesses. “To institute fines against businesses who the government is already putting out of business at record rates, especially when they are not the culprit, is heartless and cruel,” she said.
County Supervisor Patrick Kennedy, however, said the threat of a fine is a just tool in the toolbox in the “rare circumstance” where a business refuses to comply. Otherwise, he said, the county intends to continue its focus on educating non-conforming businesses first. He said he hopes the ordinance and a stronger focus on safety steps will bring the county more quickly back to a lower, less-restrictive tier that will allow more indoor business, including indoor dining and indoor worship meetings.
“I know there are a lot of people very frustrated how we are going back into the purple tier,” Kennedy said. “This is a hardship emotionally, mentally and certainly financially. We are sympathetic to that.
“But the fact is, the pandemic is real. We have (177) hospitalizations currently. As difficult as this is, if we don’t get our arms around the pandemic, it is simply going to get worse. It is the sacrifice we make today that will save lives tomorrow.”
Officials say they fear there will be an increase in deaths in the coming weeks. Deaths typically lag case and hospitalization spikes by about a month. Vaccine clinical trials are underway, but not yet finished.
Notably, though, county officials say they believe most new cases stem from two sources where fines are less likely to apply: private gatherings in homes and case clusters in congregate care facilities, including nursing homes were elderly people who are more at-risk live.
R Street Sacramento Partnership administrator Michelle Smira has argued Sacramento County restaurants should be able to continue serving customers inside at 25% capacity despite the purple tier demotion. Yet Smira’s also in favor of fines for restaurants that flout the rules.
Every operator should know mask and social distancing requirements by this point in the pandemic, she said. Restaurants-cum-bars filled well beyond the allowable 25% capacity during Halloween weekend, as they did earlier, after the first reopening in June. Those instances may have contributed to the recent case increase. It also steals attention from the vast majority of businesses being run more stringently.
“If you’re going to operate so flagrantly disregarding what the rules are and ruin it for everyone else, I think you should be fined,” Smira said. “We don’t want everybody to get shut down because there’s a bad apple out there.”
Home party hosts could be fined
Beilenson said the ordinance could allow officials to fine hosts of private parties or get-togethers, but that their focus will be on businesses. Health officials said it is logistically difficult to fine a host of an unsafe party.
County health officials would visit businesses based on complaints received via the county’s phone service lines.
If Sacramento County goes forward with an urgency enforcement ordinance, it will be the third local county to do so.
Yolo officials, who were the first locally to pass an ordinance, say they have issued only a few fines so far. Yolo health officer Dr. Aimee Sisson said the ordinance is largely used as a tool to get recalcitrant businesses to follow safety guidelines.
“In general when a complaint is received and the COVID-19 enforcement team goes out, they are often able to get compliance in that visit,” Sisson said. “The education alone is enough. Most businesses are trying to do the right thing.”
The county, which imposed the ordinance in July, has only fined three businesses, spokeswoman Jenny Tan said. Code officers usually are able to persuade businesses to voluntarily comply. Officers go out to three to 10 businesses per week, based on complaints the county receives.
The Yolo ordinance allows for business fines between $500 and $10,000. It also allows the county to fine individuals $25 to $500 for failing to adhere to state and county virus safety regulations.
In El Dorado County, county and city officials this summer instituted two enforcement orders, largely focused on the South Lake Tahoe area, where many of the county’s COVID-19 cases have hit.
In August, the South Lake Tahoe City Council authorized fines for violation of the California rule that people must wear masks indoors in businesses. The fines are up to $100 for people who refuse to wear a mask and $500 for businesses that do not comply with the mask rule.
“At this time we haven’t handed out any fines but I do think the mask ordinance has worked,” South Lake Tahoe spokesman Chris Fiore said. “We have seen people respond to things differently in Tahoe. They’re wearing their masks, they’re keeping their distance, and it feels like residents and visitors alike understand this is what we have to do to keep South Lake Tahoe safe and open.”
The El Dorado County Board of Supervisors also has given health officials the go-ahead to suspend health permits for businesses that are adamant about refusing to follow safety protocols, but only after being informed of the requirement to do so. Without a health permit, a business would be forced to shut down.
This story was originally published November 13, 2020 at 9:22 AM with the headline "Sacramento County may fine bars, gyms that violate COVID-19 restrictions."