I often find myself looking closely at the iconic images presented to us by the media-entertainment industry.
The Big, Bad Wolf, for example.
Looking closely, we can notice that the always-hungry Wolf, as envisioned by Walt Disney Studios, is dressed like a hobo — a personality type common during the Great Depression, when the studio put out their first ‘Three Little Pigs’ animation in 1933. Dented silk top hat; suspenders; no shirt; torn, patched pants; bare feet.
Two of the little pigs, meanwhile, are dressed as foolish school boys, and the third (older and wiser) brother is dressed as a tradesman.
Who’s foolish, in our current COVID story? Who’s greedy and hungry? And who’s wise?
We’re in something of a tangled mess, here in Archuleta County, around our financial and political ties to San Juan Basin Public Health. Prior to the arrival of the COVID crisis, most Pagosa area residents had very few concerns about SJBPH, and maybe didn’t even know that it existed, unless they were seeking a permit for a septic system… or receiving reproductive health counseling… or applying for WIC (Women, Infants and Children) benefits.
But the COVID crisis opened up a huge social rift between, on the one hand, the supporters of SJBPH and Colorado’s government-endorsed COVID policies — business lock-downs, mask mandates, closed schools, PCR and antibody testing, a mass vaccination campaign — and on the other hand, the critics and skeptics who have questioned some or all of SJBPH’s activities since March 2020.
We might characterize the rift as between the folks who believe an invisible virus is the Big, Bad Wolf… and the folks who believe the pharmaceutical-health-care-complex is the Big, Bad Wolf, and that the virus — which may or may not exist — is merely a red herring.
There are cases to be made for both perspectives, even if only one side is getting censored by governments, the mass media, and the tech industry.
Local massage therapist Christa Laos, LMT, stepped up to the podium at the November 9, 2021, meeting of the Archuleta Board of County Commissioners, to express a personal perspective on the ongoing community controversy around the San Juan Basin Public Health district.
Unlike the rest of the people in the BOCC meeting room, Ms. Laos was wearing a mask.
“I am wearing a mask,” she began.
Then, she removed it. “But I don’t have to. I can swing both ways.”
The comment elicited some polite laughter from the audience.
“I’m not afraid. My life is in God’s hands.”
She then noted that, unlike the commissioners and the County employees present, she did not have a government job during the COVID pandemic.
“So my livelihood depends upon my client base. And I serve people from both sides of the aisle, you know. So I had to find a way to make both sides feel comfortable, to come to me. I didn’t have the freedom to choose a ‘side’. And during that time, it was kind of delicate. I felt like I had both a mom and a dad… between you guys, and San Juan Basin Public Health.
“And Mom was, like: ‘Please eat your dinner at the dinner table.’ Because she didn’t want to clean up the mess. And Dad was, like: ‘Well, it’s probably okay if you eat your dinner in your bedroom. Just don’t tell Mom.’
“So I had this delicate balance. But now I hear that you guys might get a divorced…”
As we all know, divorce can be painful. And expensive, as Ms. Laos reminded the commissioners. And sticky.
“You might get a divorce, and you say it might be cheaper. But in a divorce, it’s rarely ever cheaper… When there’s a divorce, you now have to finance two households, right? Two places with beds. Two places with dishes and utensils.
“I love our people so much. So I say, God bless all of you, as you make these decisions. God bless our county… and also God bless our country.”
The divorce to which Ms. Laos referred last year, has not yet taken place. But the BOCC did establish a ‘Health District Investigative Committee’ to research the relationship between San Juan Basin Public Health and Archuleta County.
Our government partner in the SJBPH district — La Plata County — has never questioned the wisdom of its participation in the district, to my knowledge.
La Plata County has about four times the population of Archuleta County, and accordingly, has contributed four times as much financial support to the operations of the health district as has Archuleta County. This arrangement has provided certain benefits to both counties, through shared staff, shared equipment, shared outreach, shared programs, shared office space. Various programs and services have been offered in both communities.
But Mom’s bedroom, so to speak, has always been in La Plata County.
In November 2020, just as COVID infections were spiking in both counties, the Archuleta Board of County Commissioners — Alvin Schaaf, Ronnie Maez and Steve Wadley — unanimously approved a somewhat controversial resolution that proposed significant changes to the BOCC’s relationship with San Juan Basin Public Health. Commissioner Wadley has since been replaced by Commissioner Warren Brown.
The duties assigned to a local public health agency in Colorado are numerous, but we will note, in particular, the following duties, specified in CRS 25-1-506:
(V) To investigate and control the causes of epidemic or communicable diseases and conditions affecting public health;
(VI) To establish, maintain, and enforce isolation and quarantine, and in pursuance thereof, and for this purpose only, to exercise physical control over property and over the persons of the people within the jurisdiction of the agency as the agency may find necessary for the protection of the public health;
(VII) To close schools and public places and to prohibit gatherings of people when necessary to protect public health;
(VIII) To investigate and abate nuisances when necessary in order to eliminate sources of epidemic or communicable diseases and conditions affecting public health;
Phrases like ‘enforce isolation and quarantine’ and ‘exercise physical control over property’ sound different when spoken in Archuleta County, from how they sound spoken in La Plata County. And as we all know, when words and phrases sound different to Mom and Dad, the marriage can come under stress.
An active email exchange with a couple of Daily Post readers, concerning this editorial series, has caused me to think deeply about COVID, and about the social and political divisions caused by the so-called ‘pandemic’…
The Pagosa Daily Post welcomes submissions, photos, letters and videos from people who love Pagosa Springs, Colorado. Call 970-903-2673 or email pagosadailypost@gmail.com