Kudos to Les Baugh, a California Supervisor that speaks the blunt truth only known to those who have to earn their paycheck and know the value of building a business with hard work

(Baugh)

Shasta County Supervisor Les Baugh's Facebook post was shared by Humboldt County First District Supervisor Rex Bohn with a preface.

"I appreciate Les Baugh his insights and outlook. I thought I would share because I find myself in agreement with him on most if not all his points stated. Les is a County Supervisor in Shasta and a dear friend.  Be safe, local control with input from those affected a true community involvement so all factions are heard. I would also write another letter asking for a lil more separation for our Rural Counties."

Les Baugh's Facebook post:

-So what’s still missing?
‘New Covid-19 Guidelines’

At first glance, looks like the Governor‘s announcement placing Shasta in the ‘moderate/orange’ category was filled with positives, moving all of us forward. And to offer credit where credit is due; restaurants are open with increased capacity, churches have increased capacity and movie theaters are back. All good, right! Not so fast. Something is definitely missing. Actually, two rather important somethings.

1. No local control/input
What little local input we had, with emphasis on LITTLE, has been completely eliminated.
2. There is no offramp
That’s right, no ‘green-for-go’ category. There’s still no way off the merry-go-round. Both state and local health officials see us stuck in Covid-land for at least another 12 months.
This is unacceptable.

While it’s great that restaurants are open, we all know they cannot survive with half capacity. How many more great local businesses must we lose. How many must remain on unemployment or simply go without a paycheck? Yay, we can go to a movie theater. Yes, they appear to be open, even putting a smile on their face and mine. Love movies! Don’t kid yourself though, Movies 14 didn’t spend a boatload of money on their remodel with the hope they could seat a minimum audience. Even for large corporations, only the most financially secure will survive COVID-19.

And I predict, deeply in debt. The same goes for fitness centers, bowling alleys, wineries, and the whole shebang, very few of these businesses will be able to survive with continued limited capacity. (And I haven’t even gotten to nonprofits or youth sports.)

It is my firm belief that every one of our businesses can fully open safely now. We already have the proof. Look at our own verified statistics. By far, the vast majority of confirmed Covid transfer in Shasta County is happening at friend/family gatherings... not at our large box stores were tens of thousands of people connect on a daily basis. Not at our smaller retailers who are doing a great job of being safe.

And not at our local restaurants who are more than capable of managing safety in their own businesses, in reality, their life investment. Additionally, it does not surprise me at all that the ‘protest/rally/demonstration’ category lists a big fat ZERO cases confirmed.  I guess there’s not a lot of people hugging and smooching on each other at our local protests. That’s our truth.

We have invested tremendous amounts of time and resources ($7 Mil+ through Aug 28) - our hard-working Public Health Department confirms local scientific data. (HHSA/BOS Covid Presentations) So the bottom line here? Closing down businesses has not helped in any way or stopped Covid. In fact, I would make a case for just the opposite. Irrationally shutting down our economy is continuing to slowly destroy us, economically, physically, mentally and spiritually.


—My conclusion:
We must fully restore local control and re-open Shasta County. We do not belong in a continued one size fits all dismally-conceived state led shutdown. Efforts to keep us safe have resulted in widespread financial devastation, especially for those who live paycheck-to-paycheck. And before you say it, I am not suggesting we abandon all safety protocols. Let’s bring it back to a local level where the ‘cure’ can match the actual need. State efforts to keep us safe have resulted in widespread fear, tremendous increases in dependency and drug use, and declining mental health (anxiety, depression, PSTD). Shasta County is not in a current state of emergency. I respectfully request the Shasta County Board of Supervisors place ‘Re-opening Shasta’ (w/resolution) on the BOS agenda for discussion and possible action.

Les Baugh, District 5
Shasta County Supervisor
#FullyOpenShasta
#GreenForGo

Note: Let’s stay on narrow topic (open/don’t open) and leave the whole ‘I love/hate mask’ conversation for another day. You’re welcome to share your thoughts without being derogatory or insulting. Please do not argue with another person’s perspective. While we might not all agree, let’s honor each another. Remember what your mama taught ya, if you can’t say something nice/nicely, don’t say nothin’ at all. Just scroll on by...  Thanks for your consideration."