(SANTA BARBARA, Calif.) – Today, the Board of Supervisors from San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, and Ventura counties issued a letter to state health officials and California Governor Gavin Newsom to request a separate Central Coast Region composed of the three counties. The letter requests that the Central Coast Region be allowed to exit the regional stay home order as a region after three weeks if the ICU capacity in the three counties exceeds 15 percent.
“The letter being sent to state officials is an accurate measure of our regional distinction through both geography and demographics,” stated Gregg Hart, Chair of the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors. “We are best positioned to understand the critical needs within our region and have existing partnerships to promote the health and economic well-being of our communities.”
“Our community members and businesses are being unfairly burdened because the State lumped us in with larger metropolitan areas that are geographically, demographically and functionally distinct from the Central Coast,” said Lynn Compton, Chair of the County of San Luis Obispo Board of Supervisors. “The current region that the Governor has placed us in represents almost half of the State’s population but we are a less populated, suburban county that should not be categorized like the metropolitan areas. Reassigning our counties to a smaller Central Coast Region is a necessary step forward that will result in the best outcome for our local economy and our residents.”