Tri-Valley city leaders stood up for business and residents

When Alameda County blindsided business owners and residents alike at 9:12 last Friday night, it was great to see Tri-Valley officials do the right thing.

County officials announced that the state had adjusted its guidelines so outdoor dining, which resumed June 19, would no longer be allowed because the county had not received a variance from the state allowing it to re-open further. Only Alameda and Imperial counties did not have the variance and Alameda County had not asked for one.

You might ask the former acting health chief, Dr. Erica Pan, who left the county to become the state’s top epidemiologist., why the county had not applied. (She’s also the official who allowed golfers to return to the outdoor activities only if they played as singles). The Board of Supervisors voted to apply on Tuesday and the state granted the variance Wednesday.

Instead of kowtowing to the county and state’s flat out unreasonable guideline, our local leaders proceeded with business as usual. That was important because restauranteurs already got killed economically when they had to shutdown operations in 12 hours—that meant donating perishable supplies or dumping them.

This potentially could have done the same thing—a hit that operators could ill-afford.

Moving ahead also was a win for patrons who were able to enjoy another weekend of dining on closed off sections of Main Street in Pleasanton or First Street in Livermore.

Any question of the priorities for radical teachers’ unions, just check out the demands from the United Teachers Los Angeles to re-open schools. The union cited health and safety concerns and then moved on to its other demands.

The letter listed: Privately operated, publicly funded charter schools are shut down; police are defunded; Medicare-for-All—government-run single-player health care is passed; a state-wide wealth tax is implemented and housing for the homeless is fully funded.

You might ask union leaders what most of these have to do with educating students, let alone where the authority for these demands lies. That’s the federal government, the state government and city of Los Angeles. Given the whacky nature of LA politics the defund the police is moving ahead because the City Council voted 12-2 to cut $150 million from the police budget, a move supported by Mayor Eric Garcetti.