Gov. Gavin Newsom’s leadership failures worsen California’s COVID-19 crisis

Gov. Gavin Newsom’s uneven response to the COVID-19 pandemic has frustrated and perplexed many Californians. Some of the 30,500 Californians who have died of COVID-19 are no doubt dead due to Newsom’s failures of leadership.

At the beginning of the crisis, Newsom demonstrated strong leadership with bold and decisive action to slow the spread of the virus. His early action made California a national leader in flattening the coronavirus curve.

In recent months, California’s COVID-19 curve has bent dramatically in the wrong direction — and Newsom’s weak, indecisive leadership deserves a good portion of the blame. Take, for example, his broken promises to hold county governments accountable for defying public health orders. Newsom threatened to withhold funding from counties where public officials chose to defy public health orders.

“The threat was supposed to be part of the state’s effort to fight the virus, which at that time had killed more than 6,200 Californians,” wrote The Sacramento Bee’s Lara Korte. “Nearly six months later, almost every Californian is under a stay-at-home order. Coronavirus patients suffer in hospital gift shops. Healthcare workers in Los Angeles ration oxygen. An additional 23,000 Californians have lost their lives.”

Despite his threat, however, Newsom never followed through. Korte reported that “the state has yet to withhold any county money” from defiant counties.

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California’s lax enforcement has likely contributed to its skyrocketing number of infections. It has also encouraged an increasing number of businesses to openly defy rules, including here in Sacramento. Emboldened by scofflaw county sheriffs like Sacramento’s epidemiology flat-earther Scott Jones, bars, gyms and other regular violators know that if there’s no real enforcement, they can continue to do business as usual.

No one is scared of the consequences because — with the exception of possibly infecting customers with a deadly virus — there aren’t any. While thousands of California businesses have faithfully followed health directives, others are laughing in Newsom’s face and getting away with it.

Newsom’s lack of enforcement sends a message: California’s government isn’t serious about COVID-19.

“Unless there’s clear consequences for our health orders, people will continue to ignore them,” said state Sen. Steve Glazer, D-Orinda. “Both businesses and individuals.”

Glazer has repeatedly pushed the Newsom administration to take stronger measures to defeat the virus.

“The administration has tried to balance the economy and health, and it is not working, and the numbers prove it,” Glazer said.

California’s staggering death toll will forever haunt Newsom. The COVID-19 pandemic wasn’t his fault, but his weak, timid and politically-motivated approach has cost lives.

This nation is so close to stopping this pandemic now that there’s a vaccine. Just yesterday, Newsom lifted a stay-at-home order for the greater Sacramento region. But the danger is far from over. In Europe, some countries are experiencing a third wave of the virus, making it clear we have many hard days ahead of us. If California counties continue to ignore public health rules, infections will spike again and thousands more will die preventable deaths.

Newsom’s credibility took a bruising when he got caught attending a lobbyist’s birthday party at the French Laundry restaurant, but it did not absolve him of his responsibilities as governor. It’s time for him to step up and do the job.

“Most of the $2.5 billion has already been distributed, according to the Department of Finance, although the state still has another $750 million it can redirect in the event the state finds that a county is not adhering to the public health rules,” reported Korte.

It’s not too late for Newsom to make good on his threats and put some teeth into his public health orders. He can start by stripping some of the remaining funds from reckless counties.