Frustrated that beach-loving Californians appeared to blow off his statewide stay-home order to quell the coronavirus last weekend, Gov. Gavin Newsom is expected Thursday to assert his authority as the state’s top official and order all parks and beaches throughout the state closed.
While the details of such a sweeping order are far from clear still, critics are barking and political analysts are pondering: Will Newsom’s line in the sand prove too much for Californians who a recent poll suggested have generally supported his stay-home order?
A beach and park closure order is exactly what Chad Nelsen feared. The CEO of the Surfrider Foundation, which has fought to promote beach access and protection, has urged beach-lovers to follow the rules in hope of bringing a quicker end to the lockdown,
“It’s in response to how serious the governor is taking the pandemic issue and the overcrowding witnessed last weekend and the concern that the public is not taking the stay-home order seriously enough,” Nelsen said Thursday morning.
But news of the pending closure order, leaked out in a memo to California police chiefs late Wednesday, led many to suggest it goes to far. Statistician Nate Silver of FiveThirtyEight said on Twitter that “given what we seem to be learning about outdoor transmission, this seems like a way to possibly erode public support for lockdown measures while not necessarily getting a huge amount of mileage in terms of public health.”
Given what we seem to be learning about outdoor transmission, this seems like a way to possibly erode public support for lockdown measures while not necessarily getting a huge amount of mileage in terms of public health. https://t.co/Yoh1dIwhjt
— Nate Silver (@NateSilver538) April 30, 2020
Prominent Republicans found it outrageous. Harmeet K. Dhillon, a San Francisco lawyer and GOP activist, questioned Newsom’s authority to shut parks and beaches statewide.
“Governor Newsom, it’s not your beach, and we are not your serfs!” Dhillon said on Twitter.
This order is unconstitutional — Governor Newsom, it’s not your beach, and we are not your serfs! Time to take this state back through massive civil disobedience of unconstitutionally overbroad orders! No more! Memo says California governor will order all beaches closed https://t.co/sIe1UTxTK8
— Harmeet K. Dhillon (@pnjaban) April 30, 2020
A recent poll found that despite scattered protests, three out of four Californians favor following Newsom’s stay-home order despite its economic damage than lifting it too early and risking new spikes in infections of the potentially fatal coronavirus respiratory illness COVID-19.
But will that last with parks and beaches shut statewide?
Political scientist Dan Schnur said the details of Newsom’s parks and beaches order, expected to come at noon Thursday, will matter greatly.
“We don’t know exactly what the announcement is going to say, so it’s difficult to predict the reaction and the impact,” Schnur said. “It’s hard to see Newsom ordering state police to arrest anyone who steps onto the sand, and it will be important to see how he frames this.”
Schnur added that Newsom is “too careful a politician to act rashly in the face of such likely resistance” and that his order likely will be “much more measured.”
“This is by far the most forceful action that Newsom has taken to date, and by far the biggest risk,” Schnur said. “Up until now, he has accomplished his goals by urging and encouraging Californians to alter their behavior in certain ways. If this goes beyond that type of community reinforcement, there could be a very pronounced backlash.”
Newsom’s stay-home order allows people to leave their homes for exercise. Parking lots, restrooms and facilities closed at state-run parks and beaches, but they remained open for walk-in visitors so long as that didn’t conflict with local health officer orders. The statewide order left it to local officials to manage their parks and beaches in a manner consistent with social-distancing guidelines of keeping people at least six feet apart.
People gather in Newport Beach to cool off onSaturday, April 25, 2020. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Many counties along the coast had closed off parking and restricted beach access as well. But last weekend, 80,000 flocked to Newport Beach, one of few along the south coast that remained open with parking restrictions, and city officials Tuesday rejected suggestions to close it.
Newsom earlier in the week chastised beachgoers in Newport Beach, and said they were threatening to prolong the lockdown by slowing progress in tamping down new infections. He threatened a crackdown Wednesday.
Orange County Supervisor Don Wagner said in a statement late Wednesday he believes Newsom has the power to close beaches in the county, but that “it is not wise to do so.” He said Orange County residents have been cooperative with state and county restrictions.
“I fear that this overreaction from the state will undermine that cooperative attitude and our collective efforts to fight the disease, based on the best available medical information,” Wagner said.
