Fresno councilmember at odds with county leaders for not making COVID-19 info available
Fresno City Councilmember Luis Chavez said Friday he’s asked the city attorney to draft a formal request for information from Fresno County about efforts surrounding the coronavirus, saying the county has not been forthcoming.
The city of Fresno rolled out its potential plan for spending $92.8 million in money from the CARES Act, a federal program to provide relief to areas hurt by the coronavirus. The council is considering an amendment to the plan.
Fresno County has not provided details on its plans for the $81.5 million it got in COVID-19 relief, Chavez said.
Chavez said city leaders have been asking for the plan and need the information soon to make sure city and county spending for the coronavirus isn’t overlapping.
“We’ve actually been asking about this information ... probably three weeks ago,” he said. “If we don’t have this, it’s going to make it difficult to make those decisions.”
Why that information wasn’t released to Chavez remained unclear Friday, but Fresno County Chief Administrative Officer Jean Rousseau provided many of the details sought by Chavez in a recent interview with The Bee.
Seeking demographics
Chavez said he also wants the county to release more detailed demographics on the people who have tested positive for COVID-19, including their occupations, home ZIP codes and places they are suspected to have contracted the virus.
“They have the information,” he said. “They’re just reluctant to release it.”
City and county leaders have taken different approaches to fighting the spread of the virus.
The city has aggressively pursued regulations for masks and other safety guidelines to fight the pandemic spread. The City Council is looking at making its mask order stricter.
The county has followed state orders but overrode a decision made by interim Public Health Officer Dr. Rais Vohra, who ordered masks to be worn indoors. Hours after Vohra’s order, supervisors pushed for the order to be reduced to a recommendation.
“It’s a difference in ideology about how to approach this pandemic,” Chavez said.
The spread of the conronavirus has only sped up in recent weeks. The central San Joaquin Valley reported close to 400 new coronavirus cases and three deaths in updates on Thursday. The majority of cases continue to be seen in Fresno (now topping 4,000), Kings (2,284) and Tulare, which has 3,705 cases as of its update Friday.
County response
County Supervisor Nathan Magsig said he wasn’t aware of the earlier request from the city and said a formal plan on CARES spending isn’t yet available.
The county has funded some testing efforts, bought personal protective equipment and started a grant program for small businesses with the federal relief, he said.
“As far as a detailed plan, I don’t even have that,” Magsig said. “As far as day-to-day operations go, that is up to the CAO.”
Rousseau was not immediately available for comment. County spokesperson Jordan Scott said the county is working on a plan for the federal relief money but it has not been finalized.
Magsig said the information on the demographics of positive cases is under the control of the Department of Public Health, which can make it difficult to release because of privacy concerns.
Some ZIP code information is available on the county’s website but as of Friday hasn’t been updated since June 11.
“The Board of Supervisors is challenged because we’d like more information,” Magsig said. “From my vantage point, we’ve empowered our medical staff to make the call.”
This story was originally published June 26, 2020 at 2:03 PM.
