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May 20, 2020

The Honorable Gavin Newsom
Governor, State of California
th
1303 10 Street, Suite 1173
Sacramento, California 95814

RE: Additional Variance for Northern Los Angeles County Communities for a COVID-19 Regional
Recovery Plan

Dear Governor Newsom:

We respectfully request that you provide additional variance for northern Los Angeles County
communities that allows for the creation of a Regional Recovery Plan to permit this region to
move to the next stage of your Resilience Roadmap and reopen businesses ahead of the rest of
Los Angeles County. We represent the cities of Santa Clarita, Lancaster, and Palmdale, all of
which have all requested that they be allowed to develop their own regional reopening plan,
instead of following the county’s stay at home order.

As you are aware, these northern communities are, like many areas of California, geographically
larger, more rural, and separated from the other more urban areas of Los Angeles County. These
local differences are similar to the differences between counties throughout the state. In fact,
the 88 cities in the county range in density from less than 1,000 citizens per square mile to more
than 40,000 citizens per square mile. The combined population of this northern region is greater
than 74% of the 58 counties, yet they do not share the same authority for variance that counties
were authorized with.

In appreciation of California’s geographic diversity, you have provided counties with additional
authority to move ahead of the state as long as their individual plans use criteria that ensures
protection of public health. This action also acknowledges the distinction in the transmission of
COVID-19 between rural, urban and suburban areas.