Board of Supervisors — 2020-03-31

31st 2020 meeting of the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors. Will the clerk please call the roll?

Mr. Williams?

Here.

Ms. Hartman? Here. Mr. Adam? Mr Adam?

Here!

Mr. Lavinino?

Here

Chair Hart?

CEO Miyasato, is there a CEO report today?

There's not a report today.

Thank you Madam Clerk any announcements or changes to our agenda

Chair Hart and members of the board, I just have one quick announcement this morning reminding the public the multiple ways to participate in the Board of Supervisors meetings as we are still not allowing in-person participation. There are three ways. The public can submit public comment letters to our sbcob at countyofsb.org email address and they will be included in the record. The public can also email that same email address and request that letter be read into the record during the meeting.

And the final option is by phone, if a member of the public would like to request to speak on a particular item please call area code 805-568-2240 and that will also be scrolling on the top of your screen at the moment. State your name, your phone number and which item you'd like to request and the clerk will call you at the appropriate time. Those are all my announcements.

Thank you very much next item is approval of the administrative agenda do any board members request to pull? Administrative item number one Hearing no one or is there any members of the public that want to speak to administrative item 1

Chair Hart and members of the board I have no requests to speak on the administrative agenda,

and then if you just read item a1 to the record

Yes, chair Hart administrative and number one is from the county executive office it is to approve budget revision requests and there is a forfeit vote required on this item.

Thank you can I get a motion to approve the mystery of agenda

so moved

second motions been made by supervisor Hartman and seconded by supervisor Williams roll call vote please

Mister Williams

I

miss Hartman I Mister Adam. Mister Lavagnino. Chair Hart

I

motion passes unanimously.

Now's the time

public comment today and that is Tom Becker and I will go and give him a call right now.

Thank you Mr. Becker,

welcome. Okay hi this is Tom Becker speaking from Muleton and there are two points I'd like to make this morning first off you have received numerous requests from people for deferment of property tax in the county as you probably are well aware the IRS has deferred tax payments until July 15th and there have been other deferments from other government agencies for fees and taxes Your county hasn't done anything at all to defer property tax payments for people who have lost their jobs or whose businesses are going down the tube because of this crisis.

I just went on the county website right now, there is absolutely zero effort being made by you people to make any effort to defer property tax which could be a crushing blow to people. It just shows that you don't care, you really don't care do you? You really don't. Because if you defer a property tax, that might impact your union buddies somehow. That maybe they aren't going to get paid. So I don't know what your problem is. But anyway, that's point number one.

Point number two. You people, many of you have supported over the years the densification of communities by building apartment units, condos and very dense structures That kills people. We have now proof, if you didn't need any more proof you got it now in New York City that is an overdeveloped densified slum that half of all deaths are in New York City and you people especially Greg Hart who has been a densification person for years are putting this down that road And then Greg Hart's in charge of community emergency services here or something, I've seen him on the TV. That's like putting typhoid Mary in charge of the health care service.

You people need to stop densification and overdevelopment. You need to promote the construction of single family home communities. That is the greatest way of social distancing is by creating low density communities New York City is killing people at the rate of like 300, 400, 500 people a day. Even their idiot Governor Cuomo admits it's the densification of that city that's killing people at a rate 10 or 20 times higher than rural low density communities and I'll probably talk about this more on agenda item one and I'm really angry at some of you people just the fact that you're not even deferring property tax Shows that you're really not even thinking about the people out there. And that's all I have to say, thank

you. Thank you Mr. Becker. Supervisor Williams?

Well, I was going to indicate that there is something on the website for the county at the tax collectors website indicates though it is not Up to us since it the due date of property taxes is written into state code that anybody who has been impacted by the. Financially, by the COVID crisis can apply for a waiver of late fee and interest as articulated on that website.

Thank you Supervisor Hartman

And I just wanted to add that our treasurer, Mr. Hagan was here at our last board meeting to talk at length about that.

Thank you both for clarifying that. Are there any additional public comment?

Chair Hart and members of the Board, that was our only request to speak.

Thank you. Next item is Department Item 1. Would the clerk please read the item into the record?

Chair Hart and members of the board, departmental item number one is from the county executive office. It is a hearing to consider recommendations regarding a coronavirus disease 2019 COVID-19 update.

Thank you Dr. Dorninoso I know you're getting settled over there just take a minute thank you for being here thank you for all the incredibly long hours that you are putting in helping us

Thank you and my what I tell staff is that this is our jam. And I'm going to stick with that so thank you for your support good morning. I'm here to give you an update about our work and the state of affairs, but want to remind everyone that our response objectives is number one, to flatten the curve. Reduce the spread of infection and deaths. Two, reduce overload to the healthcare system.

Three, to protect healthcare workers and frontline responders. Four, protect other essential personnel. Five, assist the most vulnerable individuals affected. Six, assist with economic mitigation and recovery. And seven, inform the public with accurate and timely information. The situation status as of yesterday in Santa Barbara County, we have reported 88 cases.

Total tests and the testing lags because we are still processing the lab results from both commercial labs and private labs so in our county 600 and 761 Total tests have been completed with 128 pending. 49 of our 88 cases have recovered, recovering at home and to give perspective in California as of the 29th there are 5,763 cases with 135 deaths. And in the US that number would be roughly 140,904 cases with 2,405 deaths and these numbers are reported as of yesterday.

Case progression in our county versus California and the nation. And you can see that roughly, California and the nation, the curve is on the same trajectory. What's a little bit different about Santa Barbara County is that we're about one week behind in lagging, and the scale is much lower. The non-smooth curve that you see It's most likely artificial due to lag in lab reporting and it's more obvious because of the small sample size.

You have heard that we, as a county, have embarked on modeling efforts. So what I can share with you is that we are looking at three models. One is from Penn Medicine. The other one is from a NAHER lab. It's not Mayhear, it's Nayhear Lab and the University of Washington. So the key variables for these models they take into consideration the number of cases that we have, the number of hospitalization, the number of folks in the ICU and the number of patients on ventilation.

In just really roughly looking at the three models, we know that there's a range in peak dates. So that peak date ranges from April 26 to July 28. So peak date really refers to when we crest, where we're at the top of that curve. While the model is limited by the small size of our county and the lack of precise data, it does offer us critical information on what we should plan looking forward. So we're running the models and Debating which really reflects our local needs.

But as we do that, we're planning for the best case scenario or the worst case scenario. So as more data becomes available, we can scale that need. So based on our preliminary modeling, we are aggressively pursuing 500 to 1,000 alternate care beds. And these alternate care sites will allow our hospitals to care for the critically ill. What's interesting in our initial modeling efforts is that as we play with the percent of social distancing in our community, that has the largest impact On the number of cases and it has the largest impact on hospitalization rates.

So what that means, what the modeling efforts really mean is it allows us to further work with our hospital partners with surge planning. My team, Jan Kogler and her hospital emergency preparedness team have been working on surge capacity with hospital partners and will be meeting with leadership teams from the hospitals this week to get their input on our final model.

So in terms of alternate care sites, as I mentioned earlier we are hoping with EOC and we're really planning on 1,000 beds with the goal of standing up to 500 beds as early as two weeks. With regards to medical equipment. So while we're planning, while we're modeling, we're still aggressively pursuing resource for our community. So we are submitting a request today to the state for thermometers, ventilators. As I mentioned earlier in a previous meeting, we will be requesting 100 ventilators, 500 disposable ventilators Supplies to run the three alternate care sites and specimen collection supplies.

There was a question about how many vents do we have in our community? As of today, we have 85 ventilators so that includes the 64 ventilators and 21 surge ventilators. And we know that the hospitals have put ventilators on their order lists. Immigrant Health Rapid Response Collaborative. So this is a group of committed community members and academics of UCSB that realize that our immigrant communities need additional support in terms of bilingual and bicultural education.

The group has identified five areas of priority. The number one is health education, number two is interpretation and translation, three is access to healthcare, four is communication, five community outreach and immobilization, and six other social determinants of health. So as a public health department we quickly addressed last week access to healthcare We created an opportunity for anyone who has COVID-like symptoms to enter into our healthcare system free of care. And we pushed that flyer, that information out and it was translated as well as interpreted by our community members. We want to make sure that any community members who are feeling sick, that cost is not a barrier into entering into our healthcare system.

So we are, as a public health department again, we are meeting weekly. This effort is led by Dr. Melissa Smith. She is a physician at UCSB as well as a provider in our public health department. Coordinated response, I want to point out that our website continues to be updated on a daily basis. www.publichealthsbc.org is a site where people can get updated statistics and information. We have our call center available for community members at 833-688 5551, as well as a community wellness call center.

This is where we can provide emotional support to anyone in our community who may need it and that number is 888-868-1649. As always 211 is available, as well as CDC and CDPH websites. And I'd like to end with practice social distancing always. And stay home if you are sick, always.

Thank you Dr. DiMarino. That was a great presentation. Questions from board members? Supervisor Williams.

Well, did I hear 84 events correct? And just to give a context 85 85 you Terry and you reported to me on the 9th that was there was 46 So that's that means that you're making progress That our medical community is making some progress and having greater supplies even before I think that should give people some. Assurance that you guys have been working on this ventilator issue and have made progress nearly doubling the amount.

Thank you and thank you for all your hard work, Dr. Del Reynoso. It's been 24-7 for you and all the people working with you and we appreciate that. Could you talk a little bit more about the immigrant health education materials and how we can all support you in getting this information out to the various people and groups that we work with?

Sure. So we right now are, the collaborative is meeting on a weekly basis and we are rather than reinventing the wheel, we're taking health education material that's already published either on our website or via CDC and making sure that they're bi-cultural and they are bilingual. The big need that we're acknowledging is that within our immigrant community, there are community members that it's not in written language, the indigenous population. So we are partnering up with our community interpreters to be able to do that and so this is an effort that is joint and that will be supported by philanthropic activities as well.

Are there any additional questions? Supervisor Lavenino.

So I think that's important, but in speaking with the hospital it didn't seem like it is the Oaxacan community or the farm worker community right now that's hospitalized. While highly Hispanic rate, it seems more like a middle class That's been affected immediately, and for some reason the message isn't getting to our locals here in Santa Maria. So my question is how do we? Is there a strategy in our county of either doing PSAs or text messaging or something that Kind of helps people understand what they should be doing.

Because what we're doing right now, I mean our press conferences are great. I watch them but I don't expect that that has a high view rate and so how do we get to that average person that's just staying home right now or not staying home? And how do we contact that person and what's our strategy on that?

Great, great point. Supervisor love me know so I will say that now that we've had a moment to breathe. That is a question that I will pose to the collaborative beyond what we're currently doing how do we mobilize Community leaders within the immigrant community, within the Latino community to be able to be our partners and be our spokesperson to change the norm and the behavior in their community.

But here is Terry as well.

I'm sorry, I'm not trying to interrupt you. It's just hard going back and forth when we're out here like this so if I do, I am sorry. For me, it's like you said the collaborative meets once a week. And the way this thing is evolving we're already behind and I understand you've had a lot of other things to do so I would offer myself that I would be happy to work with Gina or whoever that can craft something. We definitely have folks up here in Santa Maria that the community listens to. I know who those people are.

And it would just be nice if we could say, hey I can get something done in the next 24 or 48 hours. We just need to know give me a message. We can have it delivered and it's going to cost practically nothing but I really feel like if we wait around for another week and then by the time you craft something you get it back to us and we're talking two weeks at that point is too late so If we could work offline, but I just need the go ahead from this body and whoever that can tell us yes, this is a priority. This is something we need to do so that I can do it.

Supervisor Lavanino. Hi, this is Mona I just want to yes We would love your assistance in that the Joint Information Center is doing a lot and I want Terry just to brief you quickly about all the things that we our baseline is to do almost everything in Spanish that Other agencies aren't doing but we've always done that for disaster So I wanted to give a little background But yeah, we would love your assistance in doing that

Great, thank you Mona. Chair Hart, Supervisor Lavinino. Absolutely as our CEO mentioned we will use every avenue available to us to communicate with our public during this crisis absolutely. We immediately reached out to Mary Ann Regional Medical Center yesterday they made an offer through their public outreach individuals once we became aware of the concern yesterday.

We reached out to Mary and we also immediately reached out to the city of Santa Maria. We have been working with their PIOs as part of our operator, our OA, Operator Area PIO's so we made an immediate contact Yesterday afternoon to take them up on their offer of support as well. But in terms of what we are currently doing, over one month ago I think we were one of the first counties to stand up a fully translated Spanish website with all materials specific to our county in Spanish. We also have produced over the course of the last several days several videos that will be releasing and we definitely would like A broader Spanish-speaking campaign.

However, in addition we need to reinforce our early messages. Very early on we had information out about the basics as Dr. DiMarino so indicated wash your hands socially distance etc. We need to continue to reinforce those messages across the entire population because that's what's going to make a difference and we will work on that. So yes, we will be in touch this afternoon to make sure we get you messages. Thank you so

much. I really appreciate that. That was a very quick turnaround.

Yep,

absolutely. So I have another question about the events on the order. So is there a priority number or? I need to know more how about that works so that 85 vents is better than the number we've heard in the past. But from what I'm understanding, these patients are now staying on the vents longer than anybody had originally anticipated. And so a number that we had might actually be half of what we actually thought we would need. So how does this work?

So-

We just file something with the state or how does this actually happen?

Yes, so we submitted a request for 100 vents. And how many of the hundred in our order to be gotten is anyone's guess? In addition to that, we have ordered 500 disposable vents and in hopes that between the 100 vents and the 500 disposable vents that our community will get some. In addition to that, again the hospitals are pursuing purchasing events from non-state stock. So that is a situation that I think every community is worried about and as our nation supply events come online, that is something that we will again aggressively pursue.

And with regards to your earlier question about how those events will be distributed, we have a fairly rigorous algorithm for dispersing scarce medical supplies that the community providers, hospitals, emergency preparedness experts are on and we allocate the resources via that method.

Okay, I had one more question. It was about the immigrant health rapid response. Can you explain? So you said something about that if folks show signs that they would come in free of charge Can you explain that?

Sure. So early on, we had heard in various communities not Santa Barbara County that there were COVID patients who were sick and didn't get the care that they needed due to cost being a barrier. So when that was raised to our attention from our community partners Quickly, our team assembled and said because we are a safety net what can we do? So typically the co-pay is $45 to that is their cost of share for us to initiate the patient visit. That for now has been waived so any member without insurance can with COVID like symptoms Can come into our health care centers or any of our 5 health care centers and be able to get the care that they need. And the other question was some concerns about well, what if I came in with covid like symptoms but it turns out that I am negative that doesn't really matter as long as you present with those covid like symptoms we will treat And so we were, and I want to just really pause and give a shout out to my team for making this happen.

My electronic health records team, my fiscal team, providers for quickly hearing a community need and putting it into action within a few days.

Thank you. Supervisor Adam did you have any questions?

Yeah, I'm just going to refrain from going into the individual slides and stuff. I really have a problem with these nominal numbers getting thrown out. I think we should be looking at things More in percentages, and I really don't like our graph on page two that is a cartoon because there's no numbers associated with it. That's depicting flattening the curve because we don't know that any of that stuff's true and it gives a false impression Happening or likely to happen, and we don't know any of that stuff. So I'm not a big fan of the way we're dealing with this. I wish that we were dealing with it with more rational numbers and converting things to percentages.

Specifically page four, the graphs on page four should be apples-to-apples comparison. Instead of just nominal numbers because I just don't think that means anything.

Supervisor Hartman, did you have a question?

I have one more question.

Supervisor Lavinino?

I was just wondering if we could get a quick update. I guess this would be the right time for it on the Santa Maria High Shelter and how that's working or not working.

I don't have that information readily available.

All right.

We'll have somebody get that to you or we have additional presentations from Sheriff Brown and Fire Chief Hartwig, so maybe in the interim time we'll have staff available to answer that question. Supervisor Lavinino?

Thank you.

Next step. Sheriff Bill Brown, would you please come? Thank you for being here. And thank you and your department for all your service in this moment.

Good morning Chair and members of the board, members of the public. Thank you for the opportunity to come and present some information to you about how law enforcement collectively and the sheriff's department in specifics is dealing with and responding to this unique and unprecedented set of challenges that we're facing. The Sheriff's Office and all of our law enforcement partners throughout the county are faced with maintaining law and order Protecting the citizens of our county, protecting our own employees and those in our care from not only the day-to-day challenges that we face but also this new threat of COVID-19.

To that end, our County Law Enforcement Chiefs have united in our efforts to Educate the public and seek voluntary compliance with the stay at home order. And other public health orders as well as protecting the public from those who may seek to victimize people during these difficult times, and I want to take the opportunity to summarize some of the adaptations and preparations that we have undergone.

As an agency to both combat and prepare for this pandemic. And let me summarize in four key areas. One is law enforcement operations, two will be custody operations, three is the coroner's function and last but not least what we are doing as an employer. As far as law enforcement generally goes at present our current deployment of frontline law enforcement resources has not changed We are currently deploying normal patrols throughout the county.

And we do have investigators who are still investigating crimes, albeit a focus and an emphasis on the more serious crimes. Deputies assigned to patrol operations have been supplied with personal protective equipment or PPE. And they have been given guidelines for when to don this protective gear. Dispatchers are screening 911 calls to determine if first responders should don protective equipment so that our first responders arrive at emergency scenes prepared.

Deputies on patrol are using discretion in their contacts with the public, to both maintain social distancing whenever possible and also to minimize the number of people who are brought into custody and ultimately into our custody facilities. We are using online and telephonic reporting. We have a robust online reporting system that is available to members of the public through our website at www.sbsheriff.org, and many types of reports can be reported online and also can be followed up with by telephone.

We've developed staffing plans and redeployment plans in the event that we are impacted with a significant reduction of our available personnel or if there's a need for increased law enforcement presence for any given situation. As an example, many of our investigators have redirected their daily tasks to limit their interaction and potential exposure to the public so that they may be available to respond to primary frontline law enforcement functions if needed.

All of our county's law enforcement agencies have, as I said, presented a unified front in coordinating and communicating. And we conference regularly for mutual aid and regional cohesiveness. And we in the sheriff's office have law enforcement embedded I met and we are coordinating our activities and strategy with our other county partners. As far as enforcement of the public health order, that united approach by all law enforcement throughout the county seems to be bearing good fruit.

Our efforts have been to gain voluntary compliance with the order and to collaborate and educate with the public and with businesses and the community generally on the necessity to comply with the orders. The Health and Safety Code authorizes health officers to take necessary steps to prevent the spread of infectious disease, and it grants the authority to the sheriff to enforce those orders.

And that same authority is granted to chiefs of police and to the district attorney and to all of our collective sworn law enforcement officers. If voluntary compliance is not achieved and a given situation requires enforcement action to limit the spread of the virus, we are prepared to take necessary steps to ensure the public safety and the effectiveness of the health officer's orders.

The levels of cooperation that we are seeing however, are exceedingly high. And the vast majority people are adhering to the state and local orders. I can't emphasize enough, however that it is critically important. That everyone in our community embrace this stay at home order and understand its gravity and understand the importance of it in the collective strategy on how we are going to contain and ultimately beat this virus.

This is a highly contagious deadly virus and it is not just a strain of the flu. It is something that we all have a responsibility To work together and the you've heard it ad nauseum, but the idea of flattening the curve is critically important. And it's what we can do collectively right now As I mentioned, we've received a small number of reports of violations of the order.

We have contacted individuals through persuasion and through education been able to gain compliance with them. Some of the calls have been misunderstandings in terms of what is and what is not permitted under the order. The state order. But we will be steadfast and I want to make it very clear diligent in seeking and bringing to justice any criminal offenders who would attempt to take advantage of this situation to prey on other people and that includes not only outright And obvious crimes like burglary and fraud and theft, but it also includes those who would repeatedly or egregiously violate the stay at home order.

Like to now talk a little bit about what we're doing in the jail to protect our inmates are staff and the public alike. We've been in constant communication with the courts, with the district attorney and public defender working on measures to ensure the continuity of access to the jail. Court operations have been suspended for most proceedings except for arraignments detention hearings for juveniles.

The issuance of emergency protective orders and a handful of other emergency legal actions We have installed and we will be implementing video court appearances this week, which will reduce the number of inmates who have to be physically transported to court. The court has taken unprecedented steps to allow for ex parte experiences appearances. Which means that in cases that are before them now they can be heard using only an attorney and not a defendant himself or herself without the need for that person's physical presence.

We've increased the jail capacity release credits for sentenced inmates from an existing 21 days that we had already implemented as a result of jail overcrowding and to limit our population. And we have modified that to 30 days at this time, but we're still looking at how an inmate scores on their likelihood to re-offend and using that in the ultimate decision to release that inmate early.

We've examined hundreds of inmates for early release and maximized our electronic monitoring. Unfortunately, due to the current crisis, the supply of ankle bracelets and GPS units are about as hard to find as M95 masks are. So we have ordered more, and as we get them, we will expand that program as well. The probation department's pretrial unit has been likewise reassessing hundreds of inmates for inclusion in their recognizance programs.

And behavioral wellness has stepped up in their efforts to screen and assess inmates that have behavioral health needs, to get them released for placement in the community In community based programs and housing so that they can be released from jail and have continuity of care. To protect those who are already in jail who must remain there, and new inmates who are booked for serious or violent charges, we have cleared several housing areas for reception housing.

All newly admitted inmates are spending their first 14 days in incarceration isolated from our general population. Thereby reducing the potential of introducing the virus into the jail. In addition, we have consolidated our most at-risk inmates in one wing of our facility. This has allowed us to restrict access and separate them from potential sources of exposure.

Our WellPath healthcare partners and command staff have developed a state-of-the-art response plan that is being shared and copied across the state. It follows CDC, NCCHC state and local public health guidance to detect respond and contain the disease. To date there have been no confirmed inmate cases of COVID-19. We're taking strong steps to protect the integrity of the jail and the perimeter of the jail in our quest to keep the virus out.

We've instituted temperature checks for all persons, employees and others alike. Vendors repair people and what have you. Anyone that has to come into the jail for business has to have their temperature checked and if they have a high fever they will not be granted access to the jail period. We've also limited access to our staff dining hall within the jail to only those employees and contract staff who work in our facility We've suspended all inmate visitation for the foreseeable future.

However, we understand the impact that this has on inmates and families. And we've taken steps to keep them in touch with their loved ones. These include giving them additional free telephone minutes and also providing them with free postage paid postcards so that the inmates can stay connected with families and friends while they are incarcerated. We've also expanded the availability of our educational Wi-Fi tablet program.

This allows for longer access to more inmate housing areas, in order to provide the inmates with constructive activities that they can pass the time with. Some of the most vigorous efforts have come from the front lines. Field deputies and police officers throughout the county as I say have encouraged the exercise of discretion wherever possible and have reduced the number of physical arrests significantly.

The rate of admissions to the jail has decreased to levels that we have never seen before in modern history. This has played a significant role in reducing our daily population. Yesterday, our count in the jail was 685. That's the lowest number that we have seen in the Santa Barbara Jail for more than 50 years. Our law enforcement and custody staff have always been the first act And the last to stand down in a crisis, no matter the potential for personal harm and custody staff in particular are doing a tremendous job.

And I just want us single them out as well as our patrol people for the tremendous job that they're doing. As far as the corners operation goes while we are hopeful that our efforts throughout the county will result in a decreased number of deaths associated with We're planning for a surge in the number of coroners investigations and the overall impact on the coroner's system.

The Sheriff's Coroner's Bureau is actively engaged with the statewide coroner's mutual aid system. We've expanded our local surge capacity in the event of a rise in mortality rates in the county, and we are prepared with staffing plans with disease prevention and contamination efforts if we see an increase related to COVID-19. And lastly, some remarks about the Sheriff's Office as an employer.

As an employer of nearly 900 people who are in a variety of full-time part time and volunteer capacities we are taking many precautions and proactive steps to ensure the health and welfare of our employees. We are considered an essential workforce and all of our employees play a key role in keeping the public safe And our frontline law enforcement operations and corrections functions operating.

As you are aware, through our press releases and our own reporting to the Public Health Department, we have unfortunately had a number of our employees affected by the coronavirus. To date, we've had five sheriff's employees and one contract worker test positive for the virus. I'm pleased to say that none of them has required hospitalization And one of them has recovered and is already returned to work. And the other four are recovering at home under quarantine.

We've had 17 more employees who have been or are currently on or quarantined by order of the Public Health Department due to possible exposure, and another eight or more are on self-isolation due to possible symptoms or other collateral exposure. Many of those quarantined exhibited no signs or symptoms, and many of them are already back to work after the prescribed quarantine period.

With an agency as large as ours comprised of people who are required to interact with the public on a regular basis by virtue of the work we do, exposures are likely. And we've taken many steps to minimize those exposures to our employees. Just a few examples of those include educating our employees continually on proper handwashing and other prophylactic measures that can be taken.

Providing cleaning materials and hand sanitizer throughout our workplaces, and encouraging repeated cleaning of common work areas and surfaces. Increasing the frequency of janitorial and deep cleanings of our stations, our workplaces and our vehicles. Identifying and authorizing employees who can to telecommute or work from home, or an alternate location in order to minimize exposures.

Using Skype and Zoom and other social distancing measures in our routine meetings. We've also recommended our employees do not carpool or ride collectively in cars with one another unless absolutely necessary for officer safety or other mandated reasons. And we modified the work schedules of employees working in close quarters, such as those in our business office and systems and technology. To limit the amount of people in the workspace at any given time to allow for social distancing.

Those are just a few of the measures that we're taking and we are evaluating their effectiveness on a daily basis. In closing I'd just like to say that we at the Sheriff's Office are committed to being leaders in our community. We are committed to setting the example, to maintaining a positive attitude and mindset throughout this emergency. And doing what we can do to pull our community together during this stressful time so that we may all work together effectively to achieve the best possible outcomes.

We're all in this together for the long haul but If we cooperate and if we work according to the plan, be able to ultimately contain and defeat this COVID virus. Thank you. I'd be happy to answer any questions if you have any.

Thank you, Sheriff Brown for the very comprehensive report supervisor Williams and then Supervisor Hartman.

I was just wondering about your were trying to explain first of all thank you for your efforts. I know this is a huge effort to balance public safety on In terms of crime, with public safety in terms of reducing risk of infection. But of course part of the question of the number of people that are in the jail is usually a function of how fast our court system is going and if that it's going slower do you have some concerns?

That will mean that we have more of a population than is necessary We're going to see. Court operations there. I think they're

But with video conferencing and with alternatives, with the ex parte hearing process and others. They're doing what they can do to try to modify the current system to adapt to the pressures and challenges that we face. We are gonna see I suspect for a period of time while this is all being put together and coordinated. Perhaps somewhat of a slowdown, but that has been ameliorated to some degree by the fact that we have released a significant number of inmates early already.

And because the tap has in essence been turned down in terms of the inflow of prisoners as a result of officers exercising discretion, issuing citations instead of physical arrests if necessary. Issuing warnings if they can suffice rather than a citation in certain instances. And the reality is that we're not gonna stop, crime will not stop while this COVID-19 situation is upon us. And sadly, we've seen that with a murder that occurred in Lompoc and other serious crimes that we're still going to have to arrest and incarcerate people for.

But I think that it's like everything else in our system. It will adapt, and we will work with the courts and work with our criminal justice partners to make this system as efficient as possible and to keep as many people out of jail as we possibly can. And to protect those who have to stay in jail, to the best of our ability.

Of course it should be a sign of some level of civilization that crime isn't going up. You know all of us that have a tendency to watch post-apocalyptic fiction you know usually people go crazy in these fictional accounts and it says something about our society that in these times That crime is either staying even or going down with the exception of additional domestic disturbances as you explained last week.