Fresno County’s top doctor speaks out on climate change. Republican supervisors weren’t happy
In other regions of California, a leading public health expert would get major kudos for speaking out against climate change and the harm it causes local residents.
In Fresno County, they’re compelled to make a public apology. Like the one Interim Health Officer Rais Vohra issued Friday during the county’s COVID-19 media briefing.
Before updating the latest case numbers, hospitalizations and deaths, Vohra looked into the camera and apologized to “the Board” (Fresno County Board of Supervisors) and “the CAO” (County Administrative Officer Jean Rousseau) for joining a group of organic farmers and climate activists calling for congressional support of President Biden’s Build Back Better Act.
What did Vohra say during the Sept. 17 virtual press conference, organized by the California Climate and Agriculture Network, that got him in such hot water with his superiors?
In my view, nothing untrue or controversial. It was more the fact that Vohra spoke out at all. Fresno County’s top public health expert waded into political waters with a stance that didn’t sit well with the Republican majority on the Board of Supervisors.
Calling climate change “a global poisoning event,” Vohra said local residents are particularly vulnerable to the combined effects of excessive heat, drought, wildfire smoke and air pollution — and that poorer communities of color with limited resources to protect themselves are hit first and worst.
Vohra added he was “honored” to be “part of the call to action” urging Congressman Jim Costa’s continued support of the $3.5 trillion legislative package that includes local investments in clean energy, job creation and pollution reduction “to help him make the right decisions.”
Seven days after making those statements, Vohra questioned his own decision-making in a 2-minute apology at the beginning of his regular COVID-19 media briefing.
“Last week, I actually made some comments about climate change and the public health impacts of climate change,” the emergency medicine physician said. “I’d like to clarify some of the goals for doing what I did and also issue an apology to the Board of Supervisors and to the CAO.”
Supervisor had “serious concerns” about Vohra’s stance
Vohra stated that while he is not a climate change expert, he has both observed and read about the detrimental effects of drought, wildfires and air pollution on Central Valley residents. Which is where his comments “should have stopped.”
“Unfortunately my commentary weaved into the territory of legislative and political advocacy, which is neither my role nor my responsibility,” Vohra said. “It’s something I didn’t discuss ahead of time with the Board of Supervisors or the CAO’s office — and that’s certainly something that’s not best practiced or the best way to advance the very important dialogue we need to have about the issue.”
Sounding very much like a chastised employee, Vohra apologized a second time for his “misstep,” thanked the board and Rousseau “for their understanding” and pledged better communication in the future.
To Vohra, the message was clear: Don’t step out of line. To Fresno County residents, the message was more subtle but equally resounding: Don’t forget who’s in charge.
Supervisor Steve Brandau and Supervisor Nathan Magsig, two members of the three-headed Republican majority on the board, insist they didn’t speak directly to Vohra about his participation in the climate change press conference. Nor, they say, did the board make him apologize.
However, Magsig told me he had “serious concerns” about what Vohra did and said and expressed them to Rousseau, Vohra’s direct supervisor. (The county’s public information officer, Sonja Dosti, would not disclose whether Rousseau compelled Vohra to apologize, something Brandau indicated was “probably” the case.)
“To me, that press conference was a partisan act because that package is very divisive in Washington,” Magsig said. “It’s not the role of a public health officer to engage in partisan acts. Leave that stuff to the policy makers. That’s their arena.”
Magsig and Brandau noted that since Vohra appeared in his capacity as a Fresno County public health officer, his position on the Build Back Better Plan could be interpreted as the county’s position.
Republican politicians don’t want things misinterpreted
Or in this case, misinterpreted. Because the last thing the Republican majority on the Board of Supervisors wants to do is give the impression they endorse Biden’s recovery plan. Even though Fresno County residents among those most impacted by climate change also stand to benefit the most from all those federal dollars.
Partisan politics ahead of local need? Sure thing.
While Vohra probably overstepped his bounds, his social conscience and willingness to speak out are no reason to apologize. Much better to take a stand about climate change and its local impacts than bury your head, as members of the Board of Supervisors are wont to do.
At the same time Vohra made the comments for which he later apologized, Brandau was handing out medals to first responders who battled the Creek Fire — a 380,000-acre blaze that climate change undoubtedly made worse.
Oh, the irony.
Brandau, the board president, tells me he isn’t a climate change denier. He believes the planet is getting hotter. It’s just that he’s not convinced the effect is man-made; maybe it is a natural occurrence.
The problem with that position is the absolution of responsibility. If humans didn’t cause climate change, then we certainly can’t fix it. So no reason not to continue leap-frog housing developments nor rezone 3,000 acres of farmland into mass distribution warehouses so that south Fresno residents can breathe in even more polluted air.
Credit to Vohra for speaking out. Something tells me it won’t happen again.
This story was originally published September 29, 2021 at 5:00 AM.
