Fresno councilmember proposes end of shelter-in-place. Here’s how colleagues reacted
Councilmember Garry Bredefeld’s resolution to end all orders related to the coronavirus was dead on arrival on Thursday as Mayor Lee Brand announced changes coming later in the day.
Bredefeld’s resolution was pulled from the agenda before it was heard on Thursday by Councilmember Miguel Arias.
Brand’s orders have told people to stay home as much as possible and closed many stores deemed nonessential to slow the spread of the pandemic.
Bredefeld attempted to put the resolution back on the agenda but his motion died without a second from his colleagues.
“The council doesn’t want to take any tough votes related to this,” he said.
Bredefeld said he was glad to hear Brand had decided to loosen restrictions but hoped the order would not just “touch the edges” but reopen churches and businesses and not require masks for shoppers.
The other members of the council turned off their cameras during the Zoom meeting as Bredefeld spoke in what appeared to be a message that Bredefeld stood alone on his comments.
Bredefeld has been an outspoken detractor of the orders from early in the process. He appeared last week at The Waffle Shop, a restaurant that defied city orders before being fined and the site of a confrontation with a police officer.
Hours after Bredefeld’s motiion died, Brand announced that he will lift the city’s shelter-in-place order after the Memorial Day holiday weekend and allow businesses to open back up.
This story was originally published May 21, 2020 at 10:37 AM.
