Fresno County supervisors should be called out on COVID-19, political stunt or not
We can’t go to movies or plays anymore, but there’s always political theater.
Assemblyman Joaquin Arambula and Fresno County Supervisor Nathan Magsig, two of our more thoughtful, mild-mannered local politicians, were the central players in a fairly heated confrontation over the county’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
You may have seen video of what transpired Friday morning in the lobby of the Fresno County Hall of Records, where the supervisors have their offices.
If you saw the clip circulated by Magsig’s staff on Facebook, you saw Magsig talking over Arambula, telling him to “Go back to Sacramento” and vote to strip Gov. Gavin Newsom of his emergency decision-making powers.
If you saw The Bee’s version, you also heard Arambula’s side. What motivated the state assemblyman representing roughly half the population of Fresno County to write a letter to the Board of Supervisors calling for an emergency meeting and more transparency over COVID-19 spending — and deliver that demand in such a public fashion?
Was it a political stunt, as Magsig and others have charged?
In many respects, yes. But it did produce results. Hours after the video went up on fresnobee.com and Magsig’s Facebook page, county officials announced a July 28 “joint workshop” with the city of Fresno to discuss the best strategy for carving up their $81.5 million in federal coronavirus relief.
Emergency meeting, joint workshop — it’s all about the labeling. Following the incident with Magsig, Arambula met privately with board Chairman Buddy Mendes and Vice Chair Steve Brandau, urging them to hold a public forum about COVID-19.
Bottom line: The assemblyman could’ve probably achieved the same outcome without making such a public stink.
Nonetheless, we should be thankful he did. Because if there’s a governing body that should be held up to the light and scrutinized during the greatest health crisis of our lifetimes, it’s this Board of Supervisors.
Meet the moment? Some of them barely acknowledge it.
Supes dodge responsibility, blame
Recall the pandemic’s early days. Unlike most California counties, Fresno County supervisors didn’t bother crafting a shelter-in-place order tailored to its 1 million residents.
Not when it was so much easier and more convenient for them to criticize Newsom and Fresno Mayor Lee Brand for decisive actions while dodging any responsibility, or blame, of their own.
As the shutdown continued — and the economic fallout worsened — several aggressively pushed for businesses (and churches) to reopen prematurely.
I can say that because of what happened next: The supervisors got their way, Newsom caved to local demands and here we are in mid-July with the pandemic raging. Local cases continue to climb, our hospitals are filled to capacity, running out of drugs and protective equipment, school campuses will remain closed and the National Guard is staffing nursing homes.
So much winning.
Around this same time, just as businesses were reopening, Mendes and Brandau weakened a countywide mask order by Interim Health Officer Dr. Rais Vohra that would’ve required residents to wear face coverings while shopping or indoors at work.
Talk about a political stunt. What Arambula did ruffled a few feathers. What Mendes and Brandau did likely resulted in more local COVID-19 transmissions.
You tell me, which is worse?
In normal times, I’d be inclined to agree with Magsig’s belief that local politicians can govern their constituents better than those from Sacramento. However, these are extraordinary times, and our county supervisors (as a group) have spent most of the last four months side-stepping and criticizing.
Despite Newsom’s faults, I trust him to look out for the health of Fresno County residents more than I trust Mendes or Brandau. (Magsig believes in science and provides informative COVID-19 updates on his Facebook page, so don’t lump him with that duo.)
Unfortunate altercation
The altercation between Arambula and Magsig was unfortunate. As a region, we would be much better off if our elected officials worked together instead of shouting at each other in hallways.
Arambula insisted his actions stem from what he termed “a lack of urgency and a negligence” shown by the Board of Supervisors in “doing everything they can to combat this vicious virus.”
“Those CARES Act dollars were delivered in April,” Arambula said. “I’m wondering why it takes until the middle of July to have the conversation about how to spend our tax dollars efficiently.”
In its press release announcing the “joint workshop,” Fresno County said it has spent more than $25 million on COVID-19 testing, contract tracing, personal protective equipment, work-at-home capability for county employees and grants for 1,000 small businesses.
Magsig told me he didn’t think he insulted or belittled Arambula, but admitted he let his emotions get the better of him.
“What you’re seeing in that video is frustration and a little bit of shock,” Magsig said. “I felt that Joaquin was politicizing something that didn’t need to be politicized.”
Problem is, it’s too late to prevent the pandemic from becoming politicized. President Trump made sure of that months ago — and his acolytes on the Fresno County Board of Supervisors fiddled and downplayed while the pandemic spiraled out of control.
They deserve to be called out.
This story was originally published July 21, 2020 at 1:07 PM.
