Two Sonoma province supervisors on Wednesday criticized major weddings that took place during the pandemic and again called for stronger enforcement of public health orders while complaining about barriers to what they say are provincial officials’ ability to impose sanctions on illegal marriages apply, impede.
Lynda Hopkins, incoming chair of the Board of Supervisors, said fines should be imposed in places where weddings repeatedly violate COVID-19 health orders. The province will explore the potential for future weddings in a collection of restaurants, inns and meeting rooms by a Sonoma company that allegedly hosted several weddings during the summer, a province spokesman said Wednesday.
The call to step up enforcement of the marriage industry in Sonoma County followed a report by the San Francisco Chronicle this month that the country did not issue any fines or citations – and only three warnings – despite receiving 15 complaints has about weddings in non-incorporated parts of the country, including one that allegedly drew as many as 100 guests.
Weddings with more than 12 people have been banned in Sonoma County since June, part of a series of restrictions on public gatherings where COVID-19 can be distributed. Wedding ceremonies should be held outdoors, while receptions can be held nowhere in the state.
The province, which for months has been the worst spot in the Bay containing the spread of the coronavirus, focused on voluntary compliance with health orders and on educating offenders before taking stricter action.
It is more difficult to verify allegations after an event than to take precautionary measures against an event planned for the future, provincial officials said. And people who socialize in larger gatherings with COVID-19 may be reluctant to acknowledge their actions.
“They know it was wrong, and they’re probably worried about getting people in trouble,” Hopkins said.
Retrospective enforcement is ‘much harder to do’, said Dr. Sundari Mase, public health officer in Sonoma County said. “You can definitely ask the entity that allegedly had the event about it.”
Mase said on Wednesday the issue of big weddings ‘has not yet come to the attention of the public health department’, but said these types of gatherings are among those leading to the spread of COVID-19 and agree with the call for the supervisors for more enforcement: ‘It seems like it would definitely be appropriate at the moment,’ she said.
Provincial data show that weddings played a relatively small role in contributing to the local distribution of COVID-19. Nine cases were definitely linked to a wedding involving a large gathering, while weddings were a possible, but not confirmed, source of exposure in seven other cases.
Overall, the country has received 24 complaints about marriages since the start of the pandemic, according to data released Wednesday by provincial officials. Fifteen were in the province that was not with the government, eight were in cities in the country and one took place outside Sonoma County. Fourteen of the 24 complaints were received before October when the province quoted the organizer of a running event in Healdsburg as the first and only reported fine for an event that allegedly violated health orders.
The province approved pandemic fines in early August. Commercial violations may be subject to civil fines of $ 1,000, $ 5,000 or $ 10,000, depending on whether it is the first, second or third offense committed by the same party.
Supervisor Susan Gorin, the outgoing executive chairwoman of Sonoma Valley, a popular wedding destination, said she was “extremely disappointed that anyone would violate health regulations to provide an opportunity for weddings.”
“It’s a shame when so many people follow the rules, that we have one or more people who break the rules,” Gorin said.
Gorin, who has repeatedly called for the violation of public health orders this year, reiterated that view in an interview Wednesday afternoon. But she and Hopkins both defended their code-enforcement teams by challenging the challenge of verifying complaints after an event was reported to the country.
“We can not issue a fine based on someone’s word or someone’s allegations,” Hopkins said. ‘It’s not as cut and dried as we do not follow. Do we have the evidence to substantiate this? ”
The Chronicle reported that four weddings, each with at least 22 guests, were hosted by Sonoma’s Best Hospitality Group this year. The company, owned by Ken and Stacy Mattson, operates a range of restaurants, inns and popular venues, including Ramekins and Cornerstone Gardens. Nothing seems to have happened after the strict local home order that was instituted this month and that banned virtually all social gatherings.