Contra Costa could soon become the third Bay Area county to authorize administrative citations for anyone violating public health orders.
A vote on the proposed ordinance, which is similar to those in Marin and Napa counties, is on the Board of Supervisors’ agenda for their meeting Tuesday. It would give city and county officials the ability to cite social distancing scofflaws with fines starting at $100 for individuals and as high as $1,000 for businesses for each violation.
Staff members began putting together the proposal following their meeting two weeks ago, July 14. In the time since, the Boards of Supervisors in Napa and Marin counties approved similar orders, though there are some differences.
The Napa County order, the first of its kind in the region, authorized fines as high as $5,000 for offending businesses, while the Marin order goes as high as $10,000. The proposed ordinance in Contra Costa County caps penalties at $1,000 for a commercial operation’s third offense.
The Contra Costa County order spells out how it should be enforced. For individuals, a first violation will get you a fine of $100, $200 for a second violation and $500 for a third and every subsequent infraction. For businesses, the fines start at $250, then double, with a maximum $1,000 fine for the third violation and beyond.
Other Bay Area orders are less explicit about their fine structure and include language about prioritizing education over enforcement. The Contra Costa order recommends a two-day warning period before issuing a fine but authorizes officials to hand out citations at their discretion.
Once a person or business is written up, they have 10 days to file an appeal or 30 days to pay the fine.
Language in the Contra Costa order echoed officials in Marin and Napa counties, who emphasized the importance of moving the public health violations out of the slow-moving, more punitive court system to allow for lower-level enforcement of masks and social distancing.
Contra Costa County has been on Gov. Gavin Newsom’s monitoring list longer than almost any other in the Bay Area. Now, however, San Mateo County is the only in the region to escape the list’s scrutiny.
Officials in Marin County noted the added benefit of the ordinance showing the county’s compliance with state health orders, which Newsom has threatened to use to withhold relief funds from counties that don’t take appropriate action to combat COVID-19.
To go into effect, the law will need a four-fifths vote from the Board of Supervisors at their meeting Tuesday, which is scheduled for 8:30 a.m.
