Dear LA County Board of Supervisors,

I want to congratulate you all for serving the people of LA County during this trying time, perhaps the most tumultuous in this century. We have seen a lot of unrest and change this year, tied to the pandemic and resultant economic dislocations. LA County unemployment is at 19.4% in June, a level not seen since perhaps the Great Depression. LA County renters, half of them already spending 30% or more of their income on rent, are facing a crisis caused by loss of work and difficulty getting unemployment benefits. The eviction moratoriums, while likely to continue for some time, do not directly ease the burden of missed rent payments they face. Once the moratorium expires, they will have to pay back the missed rent or face eviction. Hundreds of thousands of LA County residents face this possibility, and the fact is shocking and is simply unacceptable. Meanwhile, hundreds of businesses have filed for bankruptcy or forced to turn temporary layoffs into permanent ones, further exacerbating the unemployment crisis.

The County has also seen numerous cultural and entertainment events cancelled, causing an intangible blow to the spirit and vibrancy of our communities. Children and parents now face another round of virtual learning, unsure if the glitches and failures experienced during the abrupt transition will continue once school starts. The County also shuttered all trails and beaches, depriving 10 million people of valuable, safe recreational and outdoor gathering spaces. Additionally, the shuttering of nonessential medical care services led to a drop in people being diagnosed for cancer and a drop in people seeking care at hospitals and doctor’s offices for fear of catching Covid-19. Hospitals throughout the county laid off or cut the pay of many frontline workers, as a feared surge of Covid-19 patients did not materialize and led to hospitals being vacant for April and May. People gathered and protested en masse in late May and June, to achieve the necessary goals of police reform and racial justice. This is appropriate given that the crisis has hit Black and Latinu Angelenos quite disproportionately. Additionally, mental health has suffered dramatically in the pandemic, with a rise in depression and anxiety as well as a taxed mental health system that was already understaffed and underfunded before this crisis. I know many people who were elated at the reopening of the economy in May and June, and we chose to take advantage of our ability to enjoy nightlife and the great cuisine of the county. And others I know chose to start lighting fireworks to help relieve stress and anxiety; this coincided with the spate of fireworks that began in June and continued even despite the official ban on lighting them.

My principal reason in writing to you all is that the current approach to combatting the pandemic and managing the economic crisis does not seem to be working. The County is facing an unprecedented economic crisis with a gaping $935.3 million budget deficit, with cuts to public safety, education, and healthcare looming during a pandemic. The proposed cuts are caused by a drop in tax revenue, which doubtless was exacerbated by closing nonessential businesses and mandating residents to stay at home except for a list of “essential” activities. I believe that this will worsen with the recent reclosures and any subsequent closure measures, and it will also increase business anxiety and fear about their ability to stay afloat and keep County residents employed. Many businesses have already left due to the high cost of doing business in Los Angeles, and the continued rounds of closures and onerous restrictions will doubtless cause more of them to leave in the future. I believe that the stay at home orders and broad mandates have been and are unnecessary to slow the spread of the virus. Data shows that people began reducing their mobility and staying at home since the beginning of March, according to mobility data captured by Google for Los Angeles County. Businesses began remote work in mid-March, including my own employer. People felt anxious and afraid, causing them to move their social lives online and stay at home stringently.

Yet other states like Wyoming and Idaho did not enact stay at home orders or did not keep them in place for very long like Georgia and Florida. The latter two states have seen spikes of the same intensity as our county faces, the same spike in hospitalizations and cases. It seems that our more stringent, harsher measures made little difference when compared to these states that moved more aggressively on reopening. The closure of beaches and trails that was maintained for almost two months also seemed reactive and unnecessary, given countless research and observations that the virus does not spread well in outdoor settings and under direct sunlight and heat. Yet playgrounds countywide remain off limits and covered with yellow tape to this day, despite the coronavirus being demonstrated to not last long if at all under direct sunlight and exposure. The guidelines on beach use were also draconian, prohibiting solo sunbathing and sitting or standing on the beach for any period of time. Not only is that impractical to enforce, it is also impossible for people, especially with mobility problems, to follow. Discriminating against disabled people on the beach is simply unconscionable. Also, the ban on gatherings of people from different households has never been enforced en masse and appears to be outdated given greater mobility and the protests, so this guidance should be revised since it is impossible to enforce countywide. Perhaps guidelines for safe gathering of people, preferably in outdoor spaces with masks, should be released and emphasized. Right off the top of my head, I can think of two measures that could have been implemented that would have obviated the need for closures, reclosures, and stay at home orders. One would have been a voluntary stay-at-home program where residents would be paid $50 or more a day to stay at home except for one outing to purchase food and other necessities. With agreement to voluntary monitoring to ensure compliance, people would have been given a greater choice about whether they wanted to stay at home or continue going out, secure that they would be provided for without feeling forced to go back to work and risk contracting Covid-19. The second is expanding Project Roomkey to cover all residents who are medically vulnerable to Covid-19 and cannot socially distance, especially elderly residents living with their families or in units with unsafe ventilation that circulates the virus from one unit to another. This program would have been more efficient and more effective in protecting those who are vulnerable, as 80% of deaths in the US have occurred in people over the age of 65 and 93% have occurred in people with at least one health condition that increases the risk of the virus.

This ban on gathering is tied to a greater problem; the fact that you all have not placed sufficient trust in citizens to do what is needed or trusted them to follow proper public health guidelines. Your approach in deciding what we are allowed to do and where to go has been intrusive and patronizing, as if we

can’t gather with friends and colleagues safely. The closures of businesses sector wide instead of on the basis of violating public safety guidelines is also inconsistent and confusing. The fact that bars and gyms must close immediately, but the clothing factory Los Angeles Apparel took a while to shut down despite a major outbreak of 300 cases and 4 deaths highlights this inconsistency. It is incumbent upon you all to consider safer ways for all businesses to reopen and operate and trust industry groups and the newly formed public health councils to uphold and enforce them. Keeping businesses open regardless of what is “essential” or “nonessential” is essential; all businesses that pay taxes to help fund testing, tracing, and treatment for Covid-19 are essential, period. Trust people to go back to their lives and daily routines safely, trust school districts, private, and charter schools to figure out how to serve their students safely and give them a decent education both virtually and in-person. Trust us to stay at home if we feel sick and to seek testing and treatment if we suspect we have Covid-19. Trust us to flatten the curve and save lives, trust us to independently adhere to the right public health guidance and we will. If you don’t trust us, how can we trust you to keep us safe. This is a simple offer I ask of you all on behalf of the 10 million people that call LA County home.

Sincerely,

Manav Dutta