During yet another meeting of the Hillsborough County’s Emergency Policy Group, Hillsborough County leaders said they won’t announce a countywide stay-at-home order until at least Thursday.
At the Wednesday afternoon meeting, the group decided to come back to the table at 1:30 p.m. on Thursday, March 26 to vote on a countywide stay-at-home order that would not start until 10 p.m. on Friday, March 27.
Hillsborough County Administrator Mike Merrill has been tasked with drafting the order.
The order would more than likely allow for folks who work in some of Homeland Security’s Essential Industries to go to and from work. It would also permit residents the unlimited ability to get the necessary food, medicine, and essentials that they need.
All members resisted using the word “curfew” in any final adoption of the order.
Merrill added that the stay-at-home directive—whose final language has yet to be drafted—also permits residents to recreate and enjoy the outdoors, as long as physical distancing is observed.
“Those who cannot work remotely, and must work, shall maintain a six foot distance from customers, and fellow employees,” Merrill said.
The amendment to delay the start of the stay-at-home order at 10 p.m. Friday came from Hillsborough County School Board Chair Melissa Snively, who suggested that the order perhaps not start until then to give small business owners like her more time to prepare.
A general motion to come back to the table Thursday and vote on an order passed on an 8-0 vote. Snively’s amendment to not start the order until 10 p.m. Friday also passed on an 8-0 vote, but not without a stern response from Tampa Mayor Jane Castor.
“If you haven't planned for your employees, by now, to work from home, it's a little late. We have got to take action,” Castor said, adding that Tampa first responders have already been taken into quarantine due to interactions with a community that has not been ordered to stay home.
“Officers and first responders are being taken off the street. We have got to take action, and I don't know what galaxy some individuals are living on, but this is a serious issue.”
Castor also asked Snively why Hillsborough County shut down its schools on March 13, to which Snively said that the order came down from Gov. Ron DeSantis.
But if DeSantis seems cold on locking Florida down to prevent the spread of the coronavirus and COVID-19—which has killed 22 people in the state and 827 in the U.S. at the time of this writing—then is Castor wrong to insinuate that members of the Hillsborough County Emergency Policy Group of which she is a part of isn’t acting quickly enough?
Hillsborough’s announcement came hours after Pinellas County commissioners unanimously approved a one-week “safer-at-home” order that begins at noon on Thursday, March 26. St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Kriseman said the Pinellas order doesn’t go far enough.
The Hillsborough announcement also comes two days after members of Hillsborough County’s Emergency Policy Group (EPG) voted 6-2 against drafting language to implement a stay-at-home order. At a March 23 meeting, five members of the EPG joined Hillsborough County Commissioner Les Miller in voting in favor of a curfew over the stay at home order. Those five members were:
- Hillsborough County Commissioner Sandy Murman
- Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister
- Temple Terrace Vice Mayor Andy Ross
- Plant City Mayor Rick Lott
- Hillsborough County School Board Chair Melissa Snively
Hillsborough County Commissioner Kimberly Overman and Tampa Mayor Jane Castor were against the curfew on Monday and in favor of a stay-at-home order.
“The more we kick this issue down the road, the more people are going to die in our community,” Castor told the EPG on Monday, citing a lack of personal protective equipment for healthcare works, and a lack of testing across the state.
On Tuesday night during a Facebook Live address, Tampa Mayor Castor reiterated that she doesn’t support a curfew. She added that the City of Tampa was now eyeing a Thursday start to citywide stay-at-home order.
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This article appears in Mar 19-26, 2020.