Will CA's Stay-At-Home Order Be Enforced? It's Complicated

CALIFORNIA — The Golden State has handed out more than $2 million in fines against businesses that failed to comply with coronavirus health orders. In Los Angeles, hundreds of businesses have been cited for defying health orders since summer; meanwhile, the sheriffs of Riverside and Orange counties refused to enforce the latest stay-at-home order.

What's going on in California?

As sweeping new restrictions took hold for millions of Southern California and San Joaquin Valley residents Sunday night, coronavirus infections continue on an upward trajectory across the state. Given the stark numbers, five Northern California counties — Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, San Francisco and Santa Clara, — banded together and decided to enforce the latest order ahead of a mandate from the state's Department of Public Health and announced by Gov. Gavin Newsom.

Most could agree the numbers are troublesome, but not every county has been on the same page about how to enforce the latest state order. Will it actually be enforced? Well, it sort of depends where you live in California.

There is variance in how far counties are willing to go to enforce state measures despite a threat from the governor to redirect or withhold funding from counties that choose not to comply.

Contra Costa County has one of the toughest approaches to enforcing state health orders. The Contra Costa Office of the District Attorney has its own task force that actively responds to complaints focusing on fitness centers, barber shops and offices, Scott Alonso, spokesman for the DA's office, told Patch.

"Most folks are concerned and many of these businesses really do want to comply with the health orders," Alonso said. "But some are not following social distancing and they're not enforcing that masks be worn in their businesses."

SEE ALSO: Pineapple Hill Saloon & Grill Owner Decries Outdoor Dining Ban

Four fitness centers were fined hundreds of dollars in Contra Costa County recently, with the highest fine levied Nov. 24 against Fitness 19 in Concord for $500. These gyms were fined after defying public health orders and allowing customers to workout inside, Alonso said.

A receptionist for Antioch Dental Group was fined $100 for not wearing a mask.

And the District Attorney's hotline is a busy one, Alonso said, with county residents routinely reporting businesses for violating health orders.

The county's health department also has a task force, which looks at restaurants and store fronts. Not to mention that individual cities also have jurisdiction to cite businesses and individuals for breaking the order.

Santa Clara County has also taken more of a hardline approach. Over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, the county issued more than 181 violation notices with fines amounting to some $115,000, ABC7 reported.

Similarly, in Los Angeles more than 100 establishments, including gyms, restaurants and places of worship were issued citations in November for breaking COVID-19 related health orders, with hundreds more cited since July when the county unveiled a compliance plan to crack down on enforcement.

Throughout Los Angeles, health inspectors visit businesses "to ensure infection control measures are in place," according to a July statement from the county's health department, which launched "a tiered compliance and enforcement plan that will include citations and fines for businesses that continue to violate Health Officer Orders."

But in Orange and Riverside counties, citations, if any, have been few and far between. And some agencies have flat out refused to enforce these health orders.

In a YouTube video posted Friday, Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco condemned Newsom's threat to withhold funding from counties that choose not to enforce the new coronavirus stay-at-home order.

"The dictatorial attitude toward California residents while dining in luxury, traveling, keeping his business open and sending his kids to in-person private schools is very telling about his attitude toward California residents, his feelings about the virus, and it is extremely hypocritical," Bianco said.

Bianco maintained that the responsibility to mitigate virus spread was in the hands of Riverside County residents, adding that the sheriff's department's approach to the latest order would remain the same it has throughout the pandemic.

"The Sheriff's Department is asking and expecting Riverside County residents to act responsibly and do what they can to protect themselves and their family from contracting the virus," he said. "Wear your mask and practice social distancing."

READ MORE: Riverside Sheriff Slams Newsom, Won't Enforce Stay-At-Home Order

Riverside County has taken an"educational" approach to enforcing orders that come down from the state, according to Brooke Federico, a spokesperson for Riverside County.

"The county’s enforcement position has always been to educate first. When a business has continued to operate outside of the current state orders, there have been times when the county has taken civil court action. Civil court actions include issuing cease and desist orders or seeking a temporary restraining order from the court," Federico said.

Federico said information about how many Riverside County businesses and organizations have had civil court actions filed against them was not immediately available.

Orange County Sheriff Don Barnes released a statement Saturday echoing a message similar to Bianco's.

"To put onus on law enforcement to enforce these orders against law-abiding citizens who area already struggling through difficult circumstances while at the same time criticizing law enforcement and taking away tools to do our jobs is both contradictory and disingenuous," Barnes wrote Saturday.

SEE ALSO: OCs Supervisors Challenge Gov. Newsom's Stay-At-Home Order

And it wasn't just county officials who decried the order, as numerous business owners across the Golden State expressed outrage at the idea of closing yet again.

The owner of Pineapple Hill Saloon & Grill slammed Los Angeles County's ban on outdoor dining, after watching a production company set up dining tents for a legal film shoot right across from her shuttered patio.

"How can you tell me that this is dangerous, but right next to me ... that's safe?" Owner Angela Marsden said in a Facebook video. "Mayor Garcetti and Gavin Newsom is responsible for every single person that doesn't have unemployment, that doesn't have a job, and all the businesses that are going under. We need somebody to do something about this."

In Redding, Brenda Luntey is openly violating California's order to close her sandwich shop, ABC News reported.

"I want people to understand we are not thumbing our nose at the government,” Luntey told ABC News. “I’m trying to keep my business alive."

Meanwhile in both San Francisco and Los Angeles, police departments took on an "education first" approach, but ultimately will cite those who fail to comply.

"Under extreme circumstances where voluntary compliance can't be obtained, a 'Request for Complaint' will be completed and forwarded to the City Attorney's Office for filing," Officer Drake Madison, a spokesman for LAPD told Patch in an email.

SEE ALSO: 158 Arrested At Party In LA Crackdown On Super-Spreaders

In San Francisco, the police department has issued 150 admonishments — 82 individuals and 68 businesses — and 30 citations — 15 individuals and 15 businesses — as of Monday, according to San Francisco Public Information Officer Robert Rueca.

"These violations range from a business that was operating but was not categorized as 'essential' but continued to operate after being advised to shut down to individuals not complying to documented warnings to go home," Rueca told Patch in an email.

But counties that decline to enforce state health orders may not get off scot free. The state has its own Enforcement Taskforce that focuses on "businesses that are serial offenders or where a local jurisdiction does not have sufficient capacity to do enforcement on their own," according to the Governor's Office of Emergency Services.

As California saw a summertime surge of COVID-19, Newsom established the task force before July 4 to get counties to comply with prevention measures.

Since the summer, the task force established "strike teams" to actively interdict businesses, events or activities that violate public health orders, according to Jon Gudel, public information officer for Cal OES.

Since July, the state has issued a total of $2,019,101 in fines against businesses that defied health orders. The amount includes $1,975,201 in penalties issued by the Division of Occupational Safety & Health, and $43,900 in fines issued by the Labor Commissioner's Office, Gudel said in an email.

Since the state's strike teams were deployed in July, they have contacted 1,480,412 businesses in California through in person visits, phone calls and emails. Strike teams have also issued 4,699 enforcement actions, according to Gudel's email.

In the state's effort to crack down on business owners, 182 citations have been issued and 3 business licenses have been revoked since July 2. Some 574 businesses in California were issued a warning and 3,557 complaint letters have been sent to establishments.

In September, Cal/OSHA paid a visit to five grocery stores in Los Angeles and Culver City, citing the stores for violating health orders.

The agency found that the Ralphs in Culver City and in Sherman Oaks failed to report a worker's death from coronavirus. A Food-4-Less welcomed too many patrons inside its store, preventing workers from keeping 6 feet of distance between them, the agency said in a Sept. 30 statement.

"Grocery retail workers are on the front lines and face a higher risk of exposure to COVID-19,” said Cal/OSHA Chief Doug Parker in the statement. "Employers in this industry must investigate possible causes of employee illness and put in place the necessary measures to protect their staff."

With an average of more than 23,000 daily statewide cases recorded over the past three days and intensive care unit capacity plummeting steadily, much of the Golden State is likely to remain under health restrictions throughout the rest of 2020 — and possibly longer.

It remains to be seen whether a more stringent approach to enforcement will curb the winter surge of COVID-19. For now, politicians and business owners alike remain divided on the issue.

Newsom has said the order is "fundamentally predicated on the need to stop gathering with people outside of your household, to do what you can to keep most of your activities outside and, of course, always ... wear face coverings, wear a mask."