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WINNER OF THE 2018 PULITZER PRIZE

FRIDAY, MAY 29, 2020 • SANTA ROSA, CALIFORNIA • PRESSDEMOCRAT.COM

Sheriff won’t enforce order

Essick says effort to limit sick said were out of step with Gavin Newsom called a sole charge is a violation personal activities without ex-
state rules. “pandemic-induced re- of the county’s public planation.”
virus goes too far as DA, Health Officer Dr. Sundari cession.” Nearly 4 mil- health order. Board of Supervisors Chair-
supervisors criticize him Mase, he said, has not provided
the data needed to defend her
lion Californians filed
jobless claims in March
“The curve has been
flattened; hospitals were
woman Susan Gorin assailed
Essick’s public announcement
By JULIE JOHNSON decision to keep restrictions on and April. not overrun with pa- as “tone deaf” and criticized
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT people’s civil liberties in place — Effective Monday, tients; we have dramat- him for failing to address his
ones that ask law enforcement deputies will be ordered ically increased testing concerns with the health de-
Sonoma County Sheriff Mark officers to penalize what would to weigh reports of vi- which verified the in- partment. Gorin noted the dis-
Mark
Essick announced Thursday his otherwise be lawful behavior. olations against state fection rate in Sonoma proportionate impact of the
Essick
department will no longer en- Essick’s decision triggered guidelines and “use County is under control coronavirus among Latino res-
Sonoma County
force the county’s stay-at-home a staunch rebuke from county public interactions as an and decreasing,” Es- idents — who represent 27% of
sheriff
public health order restricting leaders — from county super- opportunity to educate sick said in a statement the county population and 70%
some business activity and civ- visors to the district attorney people on how to mitigate the posted to social media Thursday of COVID-19 cases — should be
ic life, taking a dramatic stand — even as it appeared to tap into risk and spread of the COVID-19 afternoon. “Yet we continue to a call for concern and caution.
in opposition to local measures widespread frustration over infection,” he wrote. Jail staff see successive public health or- “The sheriff’s department is
aimed to curb the coronavirus restrictions that have halted will no longer book people ar- ders that contain inconsistent
pandemic — measures that Es- commerce, deepening what Gov. rested by any agency when the restrictions on business and TURN TO SHERIFF » PAGE A6

CORONAVIRUS
PG&E SHUT-OFFS » As a hot summer begins and fire season looms,
county residents fret over impact on life during coronavirus isolation Spread
Worrying combination seen at
places
of work
Sonoma County official
says farm, water plant,
winery workers infected
By MARTIN ESPINOZA
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

Under pressure to release

more details about recent out-
breaks of the coronavirus in
the local business community,
Sonoma County’s top public
health official on Thursday re-
vealed three industries in which
workers recently contracted the
virus.
Dr. Sundari Mase, the coun-
ty’s health officer, said recent in-
fections have been found among
workers at a local winery, a wa-
ter filtration plant and among
a group of farmworkers. She
declined to identify the winery,
the water plant and what crops
the farmworkers handled and
for which commercial agricul-
tural enterprises. The only spe-
cifics she disclosed were these
are three examples of recent
PHOTOS BY CHRISTOPHER CHUNG / THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
viral transmission in workplac-
PG&E personnel work May 22 on installing a switch and new digital equipment, which are called “vipers,” along Franklin Avenue in Santa Rosa. es, and each business has seen
more than two cases among em-
By CHANTELLE LEE a small area of the district, ployees, which constitutes an
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT we’d have a really hard time outbreak.

W
(because) not everybody would “We’re seeing a shift from
hen Santa Rosa Junior be operating under the same households to workplaces be-
College administrators conditions,” she said. cause people are going to what-
started discussing Last year, PG&E cut power ever their” jobs are not knowing
moving the fall semester online across Sonoma County five they have been infected with
because of the coronavirus times, when a combination of the highly contagious disease,
pandemic, they high temperatures, extreme Mase said during her daily press
IN BUSINESS had to plan for dryness and gusty winds in- briefing. “And then the virus is
State regulators the possibility creased the risk of the utility’s introduced into the workplace
approve PG&E’s that a PG&E equipment sparking a fire. The and we have a outbreak in the
plan to get out of power shut-off planned outages stirred frustra- workplace.”
bankruptcy / B10 could disrupt tion among residents, business Mase revealed the three
learning even owners, school officials and stu- business sector examples in
further. dents, who are now bracing for response to a question from a
“It would be very difficult to the possibility that the outages Press Democrat reporter. After
remain open,” if the power is — and potential wildfires — her briefing, she and other coun-
turned off, said college spokes- will overlap with the COVID-19 PG&E distribution line technician Dan Novella works on May 14 to ty health officials did not reply
woman Erin Bricker. bring newly installed digital equipment online on a new pole along to requests for more details
“Even if it was limited to TURN TO SHUT-OFFS » PAGE A2 Bennett Valley Road in Santa Rosa. about recent virus outbreaks af-
fecting local businesses. Earlier
this week, Mase cited a number
of clustered infections involving

Dread mounts over pandemic aid’s end INSIDE

TURN TO SPREAD » PAGE A7

OUTRAGE GROWS: Protests

Expiration looms for millions of small businesses
keep workers on the payroll will
30 million are receiving them.
The multitrillion-dollar
programs will be allowed to ex-
pire could have economic con-
rock Minneapolis, precinct
extra jobless benefits, wind down if Congress does not patchwork of federal and state sequences, Markowska said, as
set on fire as clamor grows
for officers to be punished
eviction bans, US loans extend it. Eviction moratoriums
that are keeping people in their
programs hasn’t kept bills from
piling up or prevented long lines
consumers and businesses gird
for the loss of federal assistance.
for man’s death / B1
By BEN CASSELMAN homes are expiring in many cit- at food banks. But it has miti- President Donald Trump and SANTA ROSA
NEW YORK TIMES ies. gated the damage. Now the ex- other Republicans have played High 71, Low 55
And the $600 per week in ex- piration of those programs rep- down the need for more spend-
For millions of Americans left tra unemployment benefits that resents a cliff they are hurtling ing, saying the solution is for THE WEATHER, C6
out of work by the coronavirus have allowed tens of millions of toward, for individuals and for states to reopen businesses and
laid-off workers to pay rent and the economy. allow companies to bring people Advice B9 Lotto A2
pandemic, government assis-
tance has been a lifeline pre- buy groceries will expire at the “The CARES Act was mas- back to work. So despite pleas Business B10 Nation-World B1
venting a plunge into poverty, end of July. sive, but it was a very short- from economists across the po- Classified C3 Obituaries B3
hunger and financial ruin. The latest sign of the econom- term offset to what is likely to be litical spectrum — including Comics B8 Sports C1
This summer, that lifeline ic strain and the government’s a long-term problem,” said Ane- Jerome H. Powell, the Federal Crossword B9 Sonoma Go D1
could snap. role in easing it came Thursday ta Markowska, chief financial Reserve chairman — any feder- Editorial A8 State news A5
The $1,200 checks sent to most when the Labor Department re- economist for investment bank al action is likely to be limited.
households are long gone, at ported that millions more Amer- Jefferies, referring to the legis- The House voted overwhelm-
least for those who needed them icans applied for unemployment lative centerpiece of the federal ingly Thursday to give business-
most, with little imminent pros- benefits last week. More than 40 rescue. “This economy is clearly es more time to use money bor-
pect for a second round. The million have filed for benefits going to need more support.”
lending program that helped since the crisis began, and some Even the possibility that the TURN TO DREAD » PAGE A2 ©2020 The Press Democrat
A6 STATE THE PRESS DEMOCRAT • FRIDAY, MAY 29, 2020

Cities must pay for video costs SHERIFF deputy had to tell them to
leave because of the public
health order. Essick said
CONTINUED FROM A1 he felt the rules unfairly
penalized people for doing
Governments can’t ley in 2014.
The demonstrators were
lic Records Act cases that
has been handed down by
transparency
countability.”
and ac- apparently not concerned
about the public health of
nothing more than make
personal decisions for
charge to edit police protesting grand jury de- the Supreme Court in a Hayward city officials our community,” Gorin their families.
video, court rules cisions not to indict police
officers in the deaths of
while.” A ruling otherwise
risked creating “insur-
declined comment, said
spokesman Chuck Finnie.
said.
Supervisor Lynda Hop-
“It’s OK to eat lunch on
a patio, but it’s not OK to
By DON THOMPSON two unarmed black men, mountable obstacles to the The California State As- kins said Essick’s decision hold a church service out-
ASSOCIATED PRESS Eric Garner in New York public’s right to know,” he sociation of Counties said “constitutes a dereliction side?” Essick said.
City and Michael Brown said. it is disappointed in the of duty.” She said that He criticized Mase and
SACRAMENTO — Gov- in Ferguson, Missouri. The decision came as ruling. while the public health the health department for
ernments must bear the Allowing governments police in California and It pointed to its own rules may not seem to withholding key informa-
costs of redacting police to charge for editing the elsewhere responded to court brief that included move rapidly enough for tion that might help the
body camera video before footage would have threat- protests over the death examples of the costs local some, the way to address public understand the
making it public, the Cal- ened public access to all of another black man in governments already bear those concerns is to “en- current status of the virus
ifornia Supreme Court electronic records, the police custody — George to comply with records re- gage in robust conversa- here, such as how many of
ruled Thursday in a de- Reporters Committee for Floyd in Minneapolis. quests. That brief warned tion about the rules. the active cases represent
cision that was hailed by Freedom of the Press and The California justices that government efficien- “Instead, he is promot- seriously sick people, the
media organizations and 33 media organizations reversed an appeals court cy and other public ser- ing lawlessness through- number of current hos-
will be costly for cities and said in a friend-of-court decision that held the city vices could suffer. out the unincorporated pitalizations and patients
counties. brief. could charge for its editing Hayward had sought to communities I represent,” requiring ventilators. The
The court unanimously The groups argued that costs. recover its costs for the Hopkins said. health department has re-
rejected the city of Hay- those fees would have de- “If that had become the roughly 40 hours it took Gorin said she would call peatedly declined to reveal
ward’s attempt to charge terred access to materials law of the land it would employees to gather and on Essick, a fellow elected that data, citing patient pri-
the National Lawyer needed for public over- have been very problem- edit six hours of video to official, to appear before vacy rules.
Guild’s San Francisco Bay sight of law enforcement. atic,” said David Snyder, remove information it con- the Board of Supervisors “I respect the hell out
Area chapter more than Jim Ewert, general executive director of the tended was exempt from on Tuesday to explain his of (Mase), I think she’s in-
$3,200 for excerpts of vid- counsel for the California First Amendment Coali- public disclosure, such as position and so she and her credibly smart, I think she
eo taken by police officers News Publishers Asso- tion. He called the high personal medical informa- counterparts on the board has the right education and
who helped respond to ciation, called it “one of court’s ruling “a great tion and law enforcement can question him. is the right person for the
demonstrations in Berke- the most important Pub- decision for government tactical security measures. Essick’s announcement job — but she’s made some
came one day after county critical mistakes and I have
supervisors roundly gave to call those out,” Essick
public support for Mase’s said.
decision this week to pause District Attorney Jill
the county’s reopening Ravitch said she supports

We are
for up to 14 days after re- Mase, “who is evaluating
porting several alarming the data in our county, not
trends: a recent rise in local simply looking at statewide
COVID-19 cases, increased trends.”
person-to-person trans- “I want to be clear that
mission of the contagion I stand with science and I
and a spike in hospitaliza- stand with keeping people
tions, which she character- safe,” Ravitch said.
ized as “red flags.” The restrictions pose “a
Newsom has issued a challenge to all of us, but to

here for
series of new guidelines tell those who are giving up
in recent weeks allowing so much to follow the rules
for more activities, from that they won’t be enforced
barber shops to church against their neighbors
services, to resume in who disregard them is not
counties that meet certain the message we need right
criteria. But he has left it now,” Ravitch said in an
up to county health offi- email.
cers to set local rules and Some health care profes-
keep restrictions in place sionals were horrified by
depending on regional the sheriff’s decision be-

you.
factors like transmission cause they say the county
rates and public health is not ready to reopen for
preparedness. a variety of reasons, and
Overall, the case rate in the testing data is only one
Sonoma County is low with benchmark out of many
only 2.3% of the 23,362 tests that must be considered.
returning positive results Jenny Fish, a fami-
for COVID-19 since testing ly medicine doctor who
began in March. But new helped found the local
cases have doubled over health care advocacy group
the last two weeks, and called H-PEACE, or Health
there have been recent out- Professionals for Equality
breaks of illness at a man- and Community Empow-
ufacturing plant, among erment, and four other
groups of farmworkers members of the group’s
and at a local elderly res- leadership discussed the
idential care facility, ac- sheriff’s decision on a late
cording to Mase. night Zoom call Thursday.
No other law enforce- “Our community is not
ment agency in Sonoma yet safe, so for the sheriff
County has so far followed to make a public statement
Essick’s lead. to undermine our pub-
Santa Rosa Police Chief lic health officer, who is a
Ray Navarro said the city professional with a solid
will continue to support background and has made
Mase, “who is the subject really amazing decisions to
matter expert, leading protect our community is
a safe, strategic, and da- irresponsible,” Fish said.
ta-driven process for re- “It’s because of her that we
opening.” haven’t had a huge spike in
“While the governor has cases.”

We publish hundreds of local set statewide guidance and

a phased approach to re-
opening, he also has made
Supervisors David Rab-
bitt and James Gore could
not be reached for com-
it abundantly clear that ment Thursday evening.

news articles each month. the local health officer is

empowered to establish
their own thresholds and
Supervisor Shirlee Zane
called Essick’s announce-
ment “very unfortunate.”
requirements,” Navarro While she hasn’t agreed
said. with everything Mase
Both Healdsburg and has done, Zane said she’s
Petaluma police depart- been “deeply impressed”
ments responded to the with Mase’s work and has
sheriff’s announcement found her to be very trans-
Over the course of a year, the Press Democrat by reaffirming on social parent with the communi-
media their cities’ commit- ty.
ment to enforcing the pub- Some of the county or-
lic health order. ders may be ambiguous,
publishes thousands of unique articles written In an interview, Essick but that’s because these
said his decision was root- are difficult calls to make,
ed in the realities his dep- Zane said.
uties are facing in the com- “This is a really im-
by our team of local journalists. Each day, our munity. So far, the Sheriff’s
Office has responded to 29
portant time for us to be
standing together in unity
reports of public health as elected officials,” Zane
order violations, resulting said. “There’s no clear
journalists work tirelessly to provide readers with in 13 citations and 19 warn-
ings.
pathway on this. We’re do-
ing the best we can.”
He criticized the arbi-
trary nature of some of the Staff writers Chantelle Lee
the quality and quantity of content they have public health rules. He de-
scribed a situation where a
and Will Schmitt contrib-
uted to this report. You can
couple from San Francisco reach Staff Writer Julie
had rented a house at the Johnson at 707-521-5220 or
coast to shelter with their julie.johnson@pressdem-
come to expect. We take great pride in these preschool-aged child. A ocrat.com. On Twitter @
neighbor complained and a jjpressdem.

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THE PRESS DEMOCRAT • FRIDAY, MAY 29, 2020 A7

Lassen SPREAD BREAKING DOWN SPREAD OF CORONAVIRUS

tain the virus.
Latino leaders Thursday
founder of Los Cien, a local
Latino leadership group,

County
renewed their frustration said it’s crucial for public
Sonoma County public health officials continue to urge
CONTINUED FROM A1 residents to call their doctor if they are ill, think they have about the disproportion- health officials to share
ate effect the virus is hav- more information about

cases slow
flu-like symptoms and want to learn whether they should be
people getting COVID-19 ing on their community, how the virus is infecting
tested for coronavirus.
through contacts at work, and they say a lack of the local Latino commu-
531 4 531
reopening
as a key reason she decided transparency from public nity, including what work-
there would be no more ad- health officials. Two weeks places are involved. He
vances in reopening local
business and industry for
Total cases
as of Thursday
Deaths
as of Thursday (2%) ago, 59% of the county’s
overall cases were Latino
said local Latino leaders
want to be part of the com-
Positive results
ASSOCIATED PRESS two weeks.
305 222 residents. Since then, that munity effort to combat

SACRAMENTO — A
During the 14-day period,
the health officer said she Active cases Recovered 24,141 percentage has jumped to
70%. According to county
the coronavirus.
“There’s a network in
remote Northern Cali- would evaluate whether re- as of Thursday as of Thursday
(98%) data, 60% of Latinos who the community that wants
fornia county that had
been one of the state’s
opening last weekend out-
door dining at restaurants, 24,672 Negative results
have tested positive for the
virus are between 18 and
to be able to be supportive,
in dealing with this life-
two counties without wineries and breweries Tests finished 49; 24% are 17 and under. and-death virus,” he said.
any reported corona- and earlier resumption of as of Thursday However, only 4% of Lati- Peter Rumble, the chief
virus cases now has at retail curbside sales and nos with a confirmed case executive officer of the
least five, prompting park reopenings prompts INFECTIONS IN COUNTY BY REGION of COVID-19 are 65 and Santa Rosa Metro Cham-
it to temporarily re- new case spikes. older, compared to 26% of ber, said more information
scind orders that had
reopened restaurants,
The timing of Mase hit-
ting the brakes has irked
42 22 336 non-Latinos for that age
group.
about which industries are
affected by new COVID-19
shopping and other ser- and confused leaders in North East Central The Latino leaders say cases would be helpful to
vices. business, law enforcement, (Windsor north (Kenwood, Glen (Santa Rosa, they want to know which local employers, who are
Lassen County, home the Latino community and to Cloverdale) Ellen, Sonoma) Rohnert Park, companies and industries eager to do whatever they
Cotati)
to about 30,000 people, local churches. Gov. Gavin
101 26 are experiencing out- can to protect their work-
had reported no coro-
navirus cases until May
Newsom on Monday and
Tuesday gave the green South West 4 breaks so they can better
address the advances of
ers and customers.
“Business owners are
22, when a resident who light to further reopen- (Penngrove, (Sebastopol, Under the virus. our friends and neighbors
had traveled outside the ings, including in-person Petaluma) Guerneville) investigation “If we don’t know which they want to know and
county and became ill church services, in-store industries are being im- help as much as anyone
with coronavirus symp- shopping plus barbershops pacted the most we can- else,” Rumble said.
toms tested positive, and hair salons.
VIRUS CASES IN COUNTY BY AGE not address the disparities Particularly since more
said Barbara Longo, the
county health and social
On Thursday, Mase
again defended her slow-
87 293 95 56 0 happening in the Latino
community, we can’t pro-
people are returning to
work, Ventura said more
services director. down, citing concerns 0-17 18-49 50-64 65+ Unknown vide solutions that are tar- information is needed
A small team of 11 about the doubling of new geted for specific employ- about exactly where the
nurses and other health cases in the past two weeks VIRUS CASES IN COUNTY BY MALE, FEMALE ers,” said Mara Ventura, virus is spreading among
department employees and a few patients need- executive director of North commercial sectors.
then went to work over ing intensive care at local 270 261 Bay Jobs with Justice. “I think that the fact that
the holiday weekend to hospitals — in addition to Male Female She said efforts to curb we don’t have this data
try to track down ev- the pathogen creeping into the spread of the virus can makes it a lot harder to re-
eryone who had been in workplaces. HOSPITALIZATION vary from one industry to open (businesses) because
contact with the infect- Just hours after her dai- Currently hospitalized: 9 confirmed cases, 22 suspected another. we can’t be solution-orient-
ed person and get them ly briefing, Sonoma Coun- cases, 3 confirmed cases in ICU, 2 suspected cases in ICU; as of “What a winery needs is ed,” she said.
tested, leading to all the ty Sheriff Mark Essick Wednesday different that what a fac-
additional cases. announced on Facebook tory needs and is different You can reach Staff Writer
“We got on it right beginning June 1 he would Total hospitalized during pandemic: 42 than what a restaurant Martin Espinoza at 707-
away,” Longo said. “I’m no longer be enforcing Sources: Sonoma County health department; state of California;
needs,” Ventura said. 521-5213 or martin.espino-
telling you, we got the local public health emer- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; Press Democrat reporting Herman Hernandez, the [email protected].
call Friday night and got gency orders without more ONLINE: See more coronavirus-related data and charts at
all that testing done Sat- information supporting pressdemocrat.com/coronavirus-numbers
urday, Sunday and Mon- these measures.
day.” Essick said over the past
Several more people several weeks he’s asked residents have been tested, bly disappointing at a time

Going on
who had come into con- for “more information and slightly more than 2% when all levels of govern-
tact with the initial per- and transparency” from of those have tested posi- ment should be working
son infected were also Mase and county public tive for COVID-19. together.”
under order to stay home heath officials regarding “Unfortunately, the Pub- Neither Mase nor Ro-

vacation?
for two weeks even if the decision to maintain lic Health Department and hish Lal, a spokesman for
they tested negative. stay-at-home restrictions the Public Health Officer the county Department of
On Tuesday evening, when the local virus infec- have ignored my requests Health Services, responded
the county notified busi- tion rate is decreasing. As and the requests of the me- to requests for comment on
nesses that had been of Thursday night, there dia to provide desperately Essick’s decision. Mean- Pause your delivery.
allowed to reopen two were 531 local cases since needed information,” Es- while, Santa Rosa’s Police
weeks earlier that they the first local resident was sick wrote in his Facebook Chief Ray Navarro said his It’s easier than ever.
would have to return to diagnosed on March  2. announcement. “This lack police force will continue
offering takeout food or More than 24,100 of the of transparency and lack to enforce Mase’s public Manage your subscription at:
curbside pickup. county’s nearly 500,000 of engagement is incredi- health orders to try to con- myaccount.pressdemocrat.com

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