Judging by the ‘agenda review’ conducted during yesterday’s morning work session, at around 9:30am — a time when the County Administrator typically reviews the agenda items scheduled for the Archuleta Board of County Commissioners 1:30pm regular meeting — the upcoming afternoon event promised to be rather uneventful. None of the scheduled items seemed likely to draw a crowd, nor likely to generate a healthy debate among the three commissioners.
I wondered if it would even be worth attending — via ZOOM, of course.
When 1:30 rolled around and BOCC chair Ronnie Maez kicked off the meeting with the traditional invitation for public comment “about items not on the meeting agenda”, local activist Greg Giehl stepped up to the dais and handed out, to the three commissioners, copies of a brand new Resolution he’d typed up.
Typically, BOCC resolutions are written by County Attorney Todd Weaver, in collaboration with County Administrator Scott Wall. I can’t remember ever seeing a member of the general public provide a written resolution to the BOCC at a public meeting.
Mr. Giehl has been involved, over the past few years, in efforts to combat alleged corruption within the County government — illegal meetings and decisions, for example — and with circulating petitions aimed at protecting taxpayers’ rights. (He was, for example, one of the petitioners in last summer’s successful effort to amend the Town Home Rule Charter through the ‘Ballot Question A’ special election, which gave the Town voters authority to approve future ‘Tax Increment Financing’ schemes.)
The Resolution presented to the BOCC read, in part:
Repeal DECLARATION OF LOCAL DISASTER PURSUANT TO C.R.S. 24-33.5-709
WHEREAS, most of Archuleta County citizens were initially exposed to, experienced, and recovered from an ‘Influenza Like Illness’, mainly December 2019 thru February 2020, the symptoms of which were different from previous Influenza Like Illnesses. Influenza Like Illness is the Center for Disease Control (CDC) term that is used by the CDC for that form of contagions;
WHEREAS, the Board of County Commissioners direction to the County Administrator to make said DECLARATION OF LOCAL DISASTER PURSUANT TO C.R.S. 24-33.5-709 actually occurred after the outbreak had already subsided. As of this date, no evidence exists at this time that an actual pandemic occurred. Neither the Pagosa Regional Medical Center, nor Mercy Regional Medical Center experienced a pandemic case load that would have required the Board of County Commissioners to declare an emergency…
Mr. Giehl is here proposing that the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 actually arrived in the US prior to December 2019, and caused flu-like symptoms among numerous people in Archuleta County — but because the novel virus had not yet been identified in the US, everyone who became infected during December, January and February, simply assumed they had the ordinary flu.
A rather debilitating strain, but the flu nevertheless. So they assumed.
This is an interesting theory, and I suppose there’s little chance the theory will be thoroughly investigated by our local public health officials, since they appear to have their hands full, at the moment, with confirmed fully-identified cases of COVID-19.
Mr. Giehl’s Resolution proposes that the “declaration of local disaster” by the BOCC last March was made in error.
Archuleta County had declared an emergency on Monday, March 16, 2020. Colorado Governor Jared Polis had just closed all ski areas and had ordered restaurants to close except for take-out. As Administrator Wall said, at that time, “While, to date, there has not been a confirmed case of COVID-19 in Archuleta County, I am making this declaration as a proactive step to ensure that Archuleta County is in the best possible position to respond if, or when, COVID-19 is confirmed within our community. Making this declaration will allow Archuleta County to secure any needed resources more expediently, implement emergency plans as necessary and to become eligible for state and federal emergency funding should such funding be needed…”
The BOCC declaration last March did not place any limitations on residents or businesses. As far as I know, the BOCC still has not placed any restrictions or requirements on residents or businesses, as of November 17, 2020. Restrictions have consistently come from the state government in Denver.
Regarding the March 16 emergency declaration, Commissioner Steve Wadley, who is also a local restaurant owner, stated, “I’m an employer here and I’m having trouble. My people are having trouble, so this is very difficult for everybody. We all need to get through this, and it’ll pass. It’s a tough time, it’s gonna be a tough two months, but the sun shines, the birds are singing. We’ll get through it.”
Almost exactly eight months later, Archuleta County has yet to experience a COVID fatality — but the County has, indeed, applied for and received state and federal emergency funding. Meanwhile, Colorado’s local public health departments have been working hand-in-hand with the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) to place renewed restrictions on Colorado counties, dependent upon the seriousness of the pandemic in each individual county. (See today’s Daily Post story about new restrictions.)
In his proposed Resolution, Mr. Giehl also shared his ideas about the origin of the virus.
WHEREAS, the DECLARATION OF LOCAL DISASTER PURSUANT TO C.R.S. 24-33.5-709 claims a highly contagious virus originated in China, and it has been documented that the Sars Cov 2 virus known as Covid 19, is a virus that was developed in a laboratory in a collaborative effort between the United States and China, placing it in a different classification under the Biological Weapons Convention, and under C.R.S. 24-33.5-703, Definitions:
As used in this part 7, unless the context otherwise requires:
(1) “Bioterrorism” means the intentional use of microorganisms or toxins of biological origin to cause death or disease among humans or animals.
Another interesting theory unlikely to be researched by our local public health agencies.
The Resolution continues:
WHEREAS, the actions taken in response to said DECLARATION OF LOCAL DISASTER PURSUANT TO C.R.S. 24-33.5-709 are the actual cause of the social, financial, educational and emotional disaster that the businesses, families, school children, religious congregations and public at large have experienced…
In an email yesterday evening, Mr. Giehl explained that the Resolution was a ‘rough draft’ meant to start a conversation.
It did, indeed, start a conversation…