10/16/2020
***Apple Valley urges Governor to reopen sub-regions***
The Town of Apple Valley has unanimously adopted a resolution urging Governor Gavin Newsom requesting the reopening of certain sub-regions within San Bernardino County.
At its Oct. 13 meeting the Apple Valley Town Council voted unanimously in agreement on a resolution to send to California Governor Gavin Newsom urging him to allow regions within San Bernardino County to reopen rather than stalling operations within the county as a whole.
“This is not about reopening early or before it is safe. Our item focuses on communities with lower rates of infection which should be allowed to reopen,” said Town Manager Doug Robertson. “The idea for this item came from looking at San Bernardino County’s First District which has a much lower population and density than other areas. Zones, like Apple Valley, are unfortunately grouped as a whole into the county and are thus subject to a very restricted tier. We are issuing this statement as an official voice of the Town to hopefully remedy our current restrictions and reopen quicker than originally expected.”
On August 28, Governor Newsom issued a new tier-based framework, or “Blueprint for a Safer Economy,” to allow businesses, schools, and activities to re-open county by county predicated on the rate of new cases, positive test rates, health equity and other metrics.
San Bernardino County is the largest of 3,000 counties in the U.S. and ranks 12th in population. Due to the county’s size and geographic composition, positive testing rates can vary greatly from city to city. As a result, more densely populated areas of the county are preventing many of the smaller communities in the county, such as Apple Valley, from advancing to less restrictive operating tiers. San Bernardino County is 58 times larger than the Governor’s home county of San Francisco County.
“We are including a revised map showing the size comparison between San Bernardino County and other counties in Northern California,” said Mayor Scott Nassif. “The difference is massive. San Bernardino County is larger than nearly 20 counties in Northern California, including Sacramento County and others such as Marin County, Santa Clara and San Juaquin. We are aiming to show just how many residents, businesses and services are being affected by our current closure.”
The County Board of Supervisors passed a similar resolution at its Oct. 6 meeting.
For links and more information on COVID-19 and the countywide restrictions visit av.town/coronavirus.
