Dear Orange County Representative,

At this time of great crisis in our world, I wanted to bring to your attention some oversight that is happening in your Orange County community, of whom you have sworn and are being paid to protect.  COVID-19 is an undeniable force that is taking communities internationally by storm. It is a high-risk virus that travels quickly from host to host causing respiratory distress, and in some cases, death.  COVID-19 originated in China and took its first life in early January of 2020. One month later, February 11th, confirmed cases in China rose to 44,260 with the disease claiming 1,113 lives (NY Times).  On March 19th, over another month has passed, and China is finally reporting a 0% increase in local infection (NY Times). This timeline doesn’t take into account precautionary measures that the country of China took to begin restricting people from social interactions in order to contain the virus. The take-away from this is that this virus is life-threatening, has the ability to take many lives, and without serious intervention by the government, can take 8 weeks to get to a stabilized ecosystem, at the cost of thousands of lives. The virus is now here, and it’s spreading. Rapidly.

Some of the orders that have been put in place at the state level by Governor Gavin Newsom are necessary precautions and have been directly in line with CDC recommendations.  Unfortunately the “Stay At Home” orders placed by the Governor and supported by the federal government have put a huge strain on small businesses, employers, their laborers, families and our local economy.  Not only is there a lack of information coming from the Orange County administration, there is also a lack of support to the people and the lives that need it most. We are 8 days into our federally recommended and state enforced quarantine, and there are businesses that we know are likely unable to survive.  The threat to our community doesn’t end after these 15 days. Events have already been postponed, contracts have been demolished, plans that are integral to the foundation of businesses are in complete ruin and whole industries may not ever be the same.

Orange County is the third largest county in California, and with 3 million people in residence, makes us larger than 21 states (census.gov).  California is the top 3 most-impacted counties by COVID-19, and we are slowly trailing behind LA in the number of confirmed cases. We are likely just at the beginning of the coronavirus life cycle in Orange County.  Nearly 100,000 businesses could be potentially impacted by this outbreak, and we deserve some communication from our leaders (census.gov).  Cities and counties around the globe are coming together to support their communities during this time of need, and as a resident and business owner of Orange County my whole life, I expected the same.  LA County developed a Coronavirus Response Page dedicated to employers providing necessary links and opportunities to employers suffering at this time.  Mayor Eric Garcetti of Los Angeles is holding a press conference every day to discuss the updates happening in key areas and we have heard next to nothing from Orange County about any relief in any areas including the following:

• Health Care
  • How many tests are available to Orange County citizens?
  • How many people have been tested?
  • Is there any supply shortage to the local health care system for necessary equipment related to COVID-19?
  • How are those supply shortages being handled?
  • How many people currently have COVID-19 in OC?
  • Is there anyone in critical condition?
  • What contracting this disease cost them?
  • Will they be covered by government plans?
  • How are we supporting the influx of testing?
  • Will there be satellite testing sites created as demand grows?
  • Where will those testing sites be?
  • Is there an action plan as the State of California goes into a state of emergency?
  • How can people help?
  • What local organizations are supporting this effort?
  • How is our local government getting information to the people?
  • Where can updates be found?
• Safety Policies
  • Will local law enforcement begin ticketing for flagrant disregard for social distancing?
  • What areas will be shut down to ensure the safety and minimize the spreading of the virus?
  • What steps are being taken to ensure people are abiding by the Governor mandated order to “Stay at Home”?
  • Has there been an influx in local police or fire or other safety workers to assure we are in compliance with state orders?
  • Where can people get an update on county wide beach, park and public closures?
  • How is this information being given to the people?
  • Where can this update be found?
• Small Businesses
  • What kind of local support will Orange County be providing to the small businesses that have been impacted by this?
  • What kind of relief can employees who have been laid off expect to see?
  • What kind of relief is being given to rent on residential and commercial properties?
  • What kind of financial support can we expect from Orange County?
  • What steps are in place to make sure local economies aren’t devastated by this new reality?
  • Where can small businesses find resources about local, state, and federal relief programs?
  • Where can employees who have been laid off or reduced hours find information about programs to support them?
  • What relief is the small business community getting on permitting and local business taxes?
  • How is this information being given to small businesses?
  • Where can this information be found?
• Homeless
  • With such a large homeless population in Orange County, how are we addressing their needs and level of risk.
  • What quarantine options are available for the homeless?
  • What kind of sanitation is being provided for them to make sure the spread of the disease doesn’t continue to spread among them?
  • How are you working with non profit groups to provide relief for this underserved community?
  • How is this information being given to the communities and the people it impacts?
  • Where can this information be found?
• Education
  • What are we doing to address the shutting down of school on every level?
  • What percentage of students have the proper tools to succeed in a stay at home teaching environment?
  • What percentage of students will likely not retain information properly because they are ill equipped to learn in this condition?
  • What kind of training and support are being given to teachers to help best benefit the students during this crisis?
  • Where can parents go to get resources that will help them be better at assisting in their child's education?
  • How are we managing assessments to ensure the integrity of the education system?
  • Where is this information?
  • How is this information getting to the appropriate communities?

There are now relief programs all over the country, even in states where the number of cases is smaller than ours, yet their ability to be proactive will be the reason their local economies survive (Forbes). The communities investing in their people know the value that small businesses provide to their landscape, and it is so disheartening to be in a county--sixth largest in the United States of America--that shows little regard for the people and the businesses that make it great.  I hope all the elected and appointed government officials of Orange County are strategizing on how to implement a plan to relieve this coming disaster before it’s too late. God bless all health service workers on the front lines, and I hope the government of OC is showing the highest regard for them during this war on coronavirus, more than they’ve shown to its people.

I am asking for any local business owners in Orange County struggling to survive in this crisis, any person that has had their hours cut or job lost because of the pandemic, anyone in OC in fear of all the uncertainty surrounding this virus to stand with me and sign this petition.  You deserve to know, and you deserve to be protected.