San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria today announced the signing of an executive order directing enforcement for those blatantly defying provisions of California state and San Diego County public health orders.
"We know that this virus is aggressive yet we see some irresponsible individuals have scoffed at inconvenient yet easy steps to protect themselves and all those around them," stated San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria at a press conference this afternoon. "In the spring, we saw San Diegans come together to do the right thing and flatten the curve. Through the summer, and more recently, the city relied on the hope that people would do the right thing to slow the spread. But unfortunately hope is not a strategy and we know the overall public health suffers when leaders fail to articulate and implement a clear strategy. We've seen this in our city and we've seen this across the nation. Therefore, I am announcing that we will be taking meaningful action today to stop the further needless deaths in our city and region."
Mayor Gloria explained that he is directing the San Diego Police Department and the City Attorney's Office to pursue fines up to $1,000 and potentially other enforcement actions against public nuisances who choose to blatantly and egregiously defy the provisions of state and county health orders, including the recently renewed regional stay-at-home order. The executive order further suspends parking enforcement in an effort to encourage San Diegans to abide by the stay-at-home order. Enforcement measures are being coordinated with state and county law enforcement partners and will go into effect at 11:59pm tonight, Wednesday, December 30. At his press conference, Mayor Gloria further reminded San Diegans of the curfew for non-essential travel outside the home which is still in effect from 10pm to 5am daily.
"This executive order is not designed to further punish those who have consistently done the right thing," continued Gloria."This executive order is to hold accountable those who are responsible for prolonging this pandemic with their selfishness. While many have sacrificed their social lives for the greater good, others have treated this with a sickening level of apathy while their neighbors died. As much as any of us want to celebrate the end of this terrible year with family and friends, it is more important than ever to head the guidance of public health officials at all levels and take the necessary precautions against the spread of COVID-19."
The full text of Mayor Gloria's Executive Order can be read below:
This is a developing story. We will update this post as we learn more.
