The Santa Clarita City Council sent a letter to Los Angeles County Fifth District Supervisor Kathryn Barger on Thursday opposing any extension of the county’s “Safer-at-Home” order, originally set to expire Friday.

Here’s the text of the letter from Mayor Cameron Smyth, Mayor Pro Tem Bill Miranda, and Councilmembers Bob Kellar, Marcha McLean and Laurene Weste:

On behalf of the 225,000 residents of the City of Santa Clarita (City), we want to thank you for the leadership you have displayed throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Your daily updates and accessibility have provided the residents of Los Angeles County (County) with both timely and accurate information that has been invaluable.

The purpose of this correspondence is to formally oppose any extension to the current Safer at Home Order and petition the Board of Supervisors to allow flexibility for the City of Santa Clarita in complying with guidelines provided by the State or County — whichever is most appropriate for our community — to prevent the further degradation of our local economy. In addition, the City Council is requesting a more fragmented, regional reopening plan for the North County region — all cities which have very low rates of infection. As you are aware, recently, the cities of Lancaster and Palmdale have requested similar actions by the County.

After two months of adhering to the guidelines and directories issues by both State and County Public Health officials, the City of Santa Clarita can continue the progress against the virus, while allowing our economy to slowly and responsibility initiate the recovery process. We are proud of the efforts (and results) of our residents; however, it is not without cost.

Santa Clarita was recently named the 17th hardest-hit U.S. city (3rd in California) for COVID-19 unemployment growth by WalletHub. The city of Santa Clarita economy relies heavily on entertainment, film, aerospace production retail and food services–sectors that have been completely shut down under the current orders. The economic impact to this community has been and will be devastating, yet the rate of infection remains very low. In the last 12 hours, the city has received more than 800 correspondences from concerned residents and businesses in jeopardy of closing their doors permanently.

As of May 13, 2020, Santa Clarita accounted for only 529 cases of the County’s 34,428 COVID-19 cases, or just 1.5%. In fact, hospital visits have been so low that our local hospital, Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital (HMNH) announced the beginning fo staff reduction last week.

Looking at the data available for the three cities in the North County region, total cases have reached 1,494 or only 4.3% of the County’s total. The North County is also geographically larger and separated from the other areas of the County with a combined population of just o0ver 525,000 residents. The combined population is greater than 74% of the 58 counties in the entire state of California.

With this information provided and the active efforts to slow the spread and flatten the curve, the City Council believes this request for flexibility is justified for the cities in the North County region to begin the recovery process. A committee of the City Council eagerly awaits a meeting with you to discuss these requests and develop a more clear path forward.

Again, we want to thank yo0u for your leadership and support of our community, not only during this nationwide crisis, but also on a day to day basis. We greatly appreciate your consideration of this request.

Sincerest regards,
(signed)
Cameron Smyth, Mayor