Placer County officials let politics get in way of action during worst pandemic surge yet
When California fully reopened in mid-June, effectively ending the state’s mask mandate, face coverings came off in Placer County. Many residents never put them back on.
Since then, the highly contagious delta variant has spread widely throughout the state. In late July, Sacramento County announced that masks would again be required indoors, even for people who had been vaccinated, underscoring the dangers of the delta variant. Yolo County followed suit as did eight counties in the Bay Area.
Placer County has only recommended that residents mask up, and now we’re paying the price.
More people were hospitalized in Placer County last week than at any other time during the pandemic. Our once-celebrated COVID heroes — frontline health care workers — are now, yet again, overwhelmed with COVID patients.
As of Monday, there were 240 people hospitalized with COVID in the county, compared to last year’s wintertime high of 226, according to state data. A record 54 patients are in the ICU as of Thursday, compared to the previous winter record of 32. COVID patients occupy nearly one-third of available hospital beds in Placer County. Countywide, there are only nine remaining ICU beds.
Just under half of all COVID hospitalizations in the county are Placer County residents — the majority of those currently hospitalized are from surrounding counties, including Sacramento, Yuba, Sutter, Yolo and Nevada. That said, Placer County is seeing “very high levels of community transmission,” said interim health officer Rob Oldham.
Still, however, the county has not implemented a mask mandate. What will it take for Placer County officials to take the surge seriously?
Mask mandate unlikely
Oldham says the county hasn’t completely ruled out a mask mandate, but at this point it’s highly unlikely. California no longer has a mask mandate in place, with Gov. Gavin Newsom deferring to counties. But Oldham said deviating from state guidance to implement further restrictions would likely be met with aggressive local resistance.
“Our strategy has been to align with the state, … and orders from the state haven’t been all that popular (here). Why, all of a sudden, would we deviate from (state guidance)?” Oldham asked hypothetically. “It really makes it tough to justify.”
Placer County public health officials feel like they have their hands tied: Implementing a mask mandate would not be an easy choice or a popular choice, and it would turn public health officials who have worked hard to build trust in the community into targets.
But when public health officials care more about politics than health, that’s a problem.
The fact of the matter is that Placer County health officials do have the ability to implement the needed requirements right now, and popularity can’t be a guiding factor when our hospitals are overrun with COVID patients. Oldham is well-intentioned, but he’s bowing to political pressure and clearly wants to avoid battling with elected officials.
Remember, Oldham’s predecessor, Dr. Aimee Sisson, announced last September that she was stepping down as Placer County health officer shortly after the board of supervisors unanimously voted to terminate the local health emergency. Just weeks later she took the same position in left-leaning Yolo County. And guess what? Sisson was the force behind Yolo’s recent mask mandate — an ordinance she’d fight a losing battle for here.
The political forces at play are undeniable.
Leaders aren’t masking
So what now? We need our county officials to buy into public health best practices: Getting vaccinated and masking up. But that’s not going to be easy.
Unlike Sacramento County, where Board of Supervisor Chair Sue Frost is a loud, anti-science anomaly in an otherwise progressive area, Placer County is a haven for COVID deniers who reject the vaccine and believe masks don’t work. Frost even attended an anti-vaccine rally in Roseville because her baseless views don’t raise eyebrows here like they do in Sacramento.
Here in Placer County we have Sue Frosts at all levels of local leadership.
From city officials and school board members to state and federal representatives, our elected officials have demonstrated that they do not take a fatal virus that has killed 330 people in this county seriously.
Virtually no elected officials in our county are masking up at public meetings, a decision that sets a disgraceful example for constituents who need leaders that appreciate the gravity of the ongoing public health crisis.
No one on the Rocklin City Council wore masks at the indoor council meeting on Aug. 10, including Rocklin Mayor Jill Gayaldo. No one on the Auburn City Council wore masks at their indoor council meeting on Aug. 9, including Auburn Mayor Matt Spokely. No one on the Lincoln City Council wore masks at their indoor council meeting on Aug. 25, including Lincoln Mayor Alyssa Silhi. And — you guessed it — no one on the Loomis Town Council wore masks at the indoor council meeting on Aug. 10, including Loomis Mayor Jeff Duncan.
At the Aug. 18 indoor Roseville City Council meeting, none of the council members present were masked, including Mayor Krista Bernasconi.
When asked why masks weren’t being worn at council meetings, Rocklin’s mayor said her constituents find it difficult to hear her when she’s wearing a mask. Lincoln’s mayor has an easy solution: City council meetings will return to a virtual format given “the rapid increase in regional case load,” Silhi said.
Spokely, Duncan and Bernasconi did not return multiple requests for comment. The lack of response from Roseville was by far the most frustrating — I know the mayor saw my questions regarding her decision to go unmasked, yet she decided she didn’t owe me, a member of the local press and one of her constituents, any transparency on the matter.
Our officials are ignoring the spread of a deadly disease right in front of our eyes. In Independence, Kansas, a positive case was traced to an Aug. 16 city council meeting where officials rejected a proposed mask mandate. The city asked everyone who attended to get tested.
Wake up, Placer officials — this could happen on your watch.
Vocal extremists
It may not seem like it, but the vocal group of anti-science extremists in this county is, in fact, a minority. A majority of us believe in our health officials and believe in science. The numbers prove this: 56.4% of residents are fully vaccinated and 62.9% have had at least one dose.
Yet rational voices are being drowned out by community members who show up to public meetings and tell our officials not to support mask mandates; not to require masks in schools; not to require vaccinations and not to follow state or local health guidance.
It’s not just city officials who are the problem. At the Placer County Board of Supervisors meeting on July 26, no one on the board wore a mask.
Supervisor Robert Weygandt, chair of the Placer County Board of Supervisors, told The Bee he has “no plans to wear a mask at future meetings,” adding that the county will only be “reinstating additional social distancing” measures at meetings.
“Masking (like all policy options) has health downsides,” Weygandt said. “Unfortunately, many leaders have conveyed a false sense of security by arguing that if everyone just wore any mask all the time, they would be safer. That is misleading and poor leadership.”
Weygandt’s baseless mask claims confirm what we all already know: that the views of Placer’s loud, anti-science minority are mirrored by our elected officials. As a consequence, electeds have created an environment where our public health officer is afraid to put a target on his back. He has thus far chosen not to impose mask rules that would help lower COVID transmission during the county’s worst surge.
Ultimately, the debate over masks in this county isn’t about health and safety at all, it’s about being on the right side of politics. Meaning, as far to the right as possible.
The actions of Placer County leaders in the coming days will speak louder than their words. Our city and county officials must be less concerned about pandering to the political right and more concerned with protecting their constituents.
An earlier version of this article stated that Roseville Mayor Krista Bernasconi did not wear a mask at “the most recent” indoor city council meeting. It has been updated to clarify that Bernasconi did not wear a mask at the Aug. 18 meeting.
An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated that Roseville Vice Mayor Bruce Houdesheldt was wearing a mask at the Aug. 18 city council meeting. He was not.
This story was originally published September 3, 2021 at 5:30 AM.