Fresno leaders pushed to reopen some businesses early. Then COVID-19 cases surged, records show
In late May, pressure from the local business community was building to reopen Fresno County’s economy after two months of shutdown due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Dozens of records obtained by The Fresno Bee through a Public Records Act request detail the often contentious discussions that took place behind the scenes leading up to the county’s reopening plan request to the state, and soon after.
The records reveal the back-and-forth discussions between business owners — primarily restaurateurs — and government officials as the county worked to submit its plan to the state for approval. The plan lowering local standards eventually was approved and dine-in restaurants reopened May 21, 10 days before the state opened much of the rest of the economy on May 31.
Public health officials last week acknowledged there was “absolutely” pressure, but said they, too, wanted to start reopening certain industries.
But now, the reopenings have been recognized as a contributing factor in the recent spike of COVID-19 infections, said Dr. Rais Vohra, interim health officer in Fresno County. The county is now seeing a surge of cases that has prompted the deployment of federal medical workers to help.
“I think there are multiple factors,” Vohra told The Bee during an interview. “Certainly reopening the sectors that we did at the time, contributed to the increase in numbers that we saw.”
Vohra acknowledged the lessons learned from the early reopening in May.
“Frankly, this is how science is done, through trial and error, and basically we didn’t know exactly what the consequences of opening up would be until we did it,” Vohra said. “But now that we know, I think we are going to be able to use that moving forward.”
Officials across the country have grappled with balancing public health responsibilities with the need for businesses to operate so people can keep food on the table and the lights on.
“At the time, we thought that our case counts were rising, but not to the extent that they are now,” he said. “We thought (that) we were effectively flattening the curve but we were also flattening the economy.”
Fresno County’s push to lower COVID-19 standards
Records show public health officials scrambling in May to cobble together a report pushing the state to lower its standards for reopening Fresno County restaurants.
In their report, local leaders assured state officials the county would keep the virus under control. After the request was submitted, there were numerous calls to pressure the governor’s office for approval, which they eventually won, emails show.
County data shows the number of infections began to slowly increase soon after the state’s approval to reopen dine-in restaurants on May 21, and continued to spike in greater numbers after the May 31 reopening of other activities.
“In hindsight, through the lens of the surge that we are currently experiencing, we understand that a lot of people are asking these hard questions,” Vohra said. “I know that when we open back up, we are going to be taking all of the things that we learned, in making sure that we open up safely again.”
A request for comment was sent to Fresno County Board of Supervisors Chairman Buddy Mendes. Jordan Scott, the county spokesman, responded on behalf of the board and said Jean Rousseau, the county’s chief administrative officer, had answered The Bee’s request for comment when he spoke about this story and the public records request during a media briefing July 17.
Fresno restaurants owners fought to save business
Emails show the California Restaurant Association and well-known restaurant owners were key players in pressuring officials to reopen dine-in restaurants. But the county’s Board of Supervisors, other elected officials, and Fresno Mayor Lee Brand’s Fresno Recovery Advisory Committee also were eager to see Fresno County reopen at a time when it was far from meeting state requirements.
California Restaurant Association member Michael Shirinian, with Shirinian Hospitality Group and owner of the Elbow Room, sent an email to Fresno County Supervisor Nathan Magsig early on May 15 worried the state might not approve the county’s request, and that “any pressure elected officials can place on the Governor” was critical if the county’s Public Health Department wanted to succeed in getting approval to reopen.
Shirinian told Magsig that he and others, such as Lorraine Salazar and Bob Smittcamp, had met with David Pomaville, director of the Fresno County Department of Public Health, and Vohra on May 13.
Shirinian, who was briefly on the Fresno Recovery Advisory Committee, declined to comment for this story. Salazar is co-owner of Sal’s Mexican Restaurant in Fresno and past president of the California Restaurant Association.
Smittcamp, father-in-law to Fresno County District Attorney Lisa Smittcamp, is the former chief executive officer for Lyons Magnus, a food service company.
In his email, Shirinian recapped the May 13 meeting: “The doctor said there (was) ‘zero’ chance of Fresno County meeting the testing standards set forth by the State to allow restaurants and salons to re-open. ZERO. Supposedly, the Health Department is sending alternative metrics for the State/Governor to approve for Fresno County. Without that...you’re (sic) #1 sales tax generator...restaurants...is dead in the water. Pass this along to the committee.”
Shirinian wrote, “if restaurants go rogue... the State is taking away liquor licenses. If that happens we’re 100% dead.”
Pressure led to Fresno County changing plans
Nathan Ahle, president and chief executive officer for the Fresno Chamber of Commerce, responded to Shirinian’s email comments, saying the issue was tied to a discussion that had taken place during a call on May 14.
“We need a full-court press on our electeds to help convince the Governor that alternative metrics will show Fresno County can keep the virus under control and allow us to open,” Ahle wrote.
Vohra, during a media briefing late on May 13, said Fresno County, along with other Central Valley counties, was planning to ask the state to ease reopening requirements for the region. Fresno County broke away from other counties and sent its request on May 15.
Pomaville, during an interview with The Bee last week, said the May 13 meeting was driven by the California Restaurant Association. Salazar had been in touch with him, he said.
Pomaville said eight or nine representatives of the local restaurant community took part in that meeting. Public health officials, he said, had begun to ask restaurants to think about the steps they would take to keep patrons safe “when dine-in was allowed to occur.”
“We met at Pismo’s (Coastal Grill), and they walked through some of the things that they would be able to do as a restaurant industry” to ensure proper protocols were in place, Pomaville said.
Pomaville said the meeting did not play a role in Vohra’s announcement the same day in the evening when he told reporters the county was going to submit a request to the state with other Central Valley counties.
‘Fresno Drama’
Pomaville wrote “Fresno Drama” in the subject line of an email he sent to another official soon after the county submitted its request. The email was addressed to Michelle Gibbons, the executive director at the County Health Executives Association of California, explaining, in part, why Fresno County had decided to act alone with its request.
“Just so you know we sent a letter to Dr. Angell that we don’t meet criteria but we want consideration to open ‘Dine In’ restaurants,” Pomaville wrote. “We really think we need to move as a region, but our Board is pushing hard to move this issue along.”
Dr. Sonia Angell is California’s health officer.
Rousseau, the county’s top bureaucrat, in a May 15 email to Pomaville and Vohra, wrote, “Thank you both for your outstanding efforts in getting the report done under a short timeline and with the amount of pressure in the community.”
Fresno County employee raised COVID-19 concerns
The COVID-19 death toll also was a major obstacle for Fresno County at the time. State officials required zero deaths for two consecutive weeks, which Fresno County also failed to meet.
At least one county employee sounded the alarm about Fresno County’s May reopening effort.
On May 14, Ronald Emenheiser, a lead eligibility worker for the Fresno County Department of Social Services and SEIU 521 local Wide Executive Board Delegate, questioned whether Fresno County was “opening up too soon” against “stringent CDPH Guidelines.”
In his email to some Fresno County employees, Emenheiser shared research he did on the county not meeting requirements. He even tells them a reopening on May 31, as part of the statewide opening, didn’t “appear valid” for Fresno County.
Yet county and city leaders were eager to know when the county would submit its reopening request to the state.
When he was informed of the request’s submission, Orman responded by saying pressure would now move to Newsom.
“Mayor is sending a letter to the Governor and he is also asking our local State legislators and hospitals to lobby the Governor to approve Fresno County’s plan,” Orman wrote.
Pomaville acknowledged the pressure to reopen.
“I think from the local elected leaders as well as state representatives, and so forth, there was a tremendous amount of concern for the businesses that were really having a hard time.”
Small businesses have struggled during the pandemic, and economists estimate more than 100,000 of them have closed permanently across the nation.
As of Friday, Fresno County had a total of 12,148 infections and 112 deaths.
Vohra said he believes officials have a different perspective now.
After the brief reopening of dine-in restaurants, Vohra said, county officials delayed the reopening of family entertainment centers for a couple of weeks after the state allowed the county the reopen those venues.
“Even then we had ... a lot of requests and a lot of suggestions to open those things up and we really kind of held our ground and I’m kind of glad we did.”
This story was originally published July 24, 2020 at 4:00 AM.
CORRECTION: This story has been corrected to report that Michelle Gibbons is the Executive Director at the County Health Executives Association of California .
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