The Governor of the State of Florida finally threw in the flag a couple days ago, March 31st, and issued a Stay at Home mandate for his State. He went back and forth with Trump, but each wanted the other to make a decision. Neither one of them had the balls to make a decision. I'm guessing it's because neither wanted to take responsibility for that red states backlash.
Meanwhile, Florida had it's normal Spring break and article after article showed packed beaches with breathing bodies. Local administrators closed the beaches, because the governor wouldn't, and by March 18th, 2020, positive test results showed ~330 people had tested positive. Still, if the beaches were any indicator, Floridians, the state with the highest percentage of retired people, were congregating, business as usual. Today, Florida has about 7,000 confirmed cases which is about 6800 more than California did when our Governor mandated stay at home.
Good luck, Florida, I think you're in for a bumpy ride.
This is not to say there isn't over-reach going on out there, and here's a POV from a person I know and respect, and whom I often do not agree with. However, she makes some good points. Pay attention to the domino-effect of draconian shut-down measures which can create more pay, suffering and cess-pools of disease.
"Corona Virus over reach part 843.
I'm not a huge fan of those that manage our park district even while I am an incredible fan of the parks they manage. That doesn't mean I don't respect the work of the boots on the ground - though some of them clearly wish they had become police officers instead of park rangers, and some in their little private police department clearly wish they had applied to a 'real' police department instead.
There are some on the board who have used that role to advance a personal agenda that has no place in a park system which provides open space to an incredibly wide ranging set of families, sports enthusiasts, nature buffs and which has to safeguard the natural world we are privileged to share.There are some who have blatantly used a position board as a stepping stone to further their ambitions to higher office and there are some who have understood perfectly that bringing bike fanatics, dog fanatics, bird fanatics and all the other fanatics to the table is a necessary and often ugly part of the process.
While promoting a segment on our local NPR radio station yesterday the District boasted about how they are keeping the parks open for use by the people in this area who are desperate during these times for some open air activity and exercise - with their kids, with their dogs, with their living companions, and with their friends (while keeping social distance). Yet, the fencing went up at Point Isabel yesterday, the largest off leash dog walking open space in the nation.
And I can tell you exactly how that impacted the park I use every day - the Albany Bulb - and the chaos it caused in the tiny parking lot - made worse by the fact that bad corporate neighbor Golden Gate Fields has closed it's gates to through traffic even though this is a public right of way, and the Park District is still running months behind on the parking area behind the beach and one cannot park there.
But one community this has had effect on is the large homeless community living in RV's along Rydin Road, the road leading to Point Isabel, where until yesterday there were toilets to use and water to access.
The bushes along Rydin Road are now becoming a new open sewer. We may not like the vast communities of homeless in our area. But they are here. And they are our collective responsibility. They are being pushed from one place to another, they are growing in numbers. Every action taken by the Park District impacts far more than the thousands of dog owners at Point Isabel. Well done East Bay Regional Park District."
The U.S. is full of people who are far more concerned with their individual comfort than they are the safety of the community as evidenced by the numbers of people reported at these public open spaces with their bikes, trikes and families. Everyone tries to stay six feet away from other people, but that's impossible to maintain when the parks are packed.
Stay the Fuck at Home, like Samuel L. Jackson says.
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