{"id":2923,"date":"2020-04-22T09:00:14","date_gmt":"2020-04-22T16:00:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sandiegonewsdesk.com\/?p=2923"},"modified":"2020-04-22T16:53:25","modified_gmt":"2020-04-22T23:53:25","slug":"why-supervisor-nathan-fletcher-is-the-worst-person-to-lead-our-covid-19-response","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sandiegonewsdesk.com\/?p=2923","title":{"rendered":"Why Supervisor Nathan Fletcher is the Worst Person to Lead our COVID-19 Response"},"content":{"rendered":"

Written by Scott Chipman<\/em><\/p>\n

Supervisor Fletcher has <\/span>emerged<\/span><\/a> as the leading figure in San Diego\u2019s fight against the Wuhan virus and many people are beginning to realize that his serious lack of judgement and political ambitions should prevent him from ever having that much power.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

As this deadly virus emerged from Eastern China and began to spread across the globe, and five days after President Trump <\/span>announced<\/span><\/a> the banning of travel from China, Supervisor Nathan Fletcher not only failed to shield San Diegans from it, he took affirmative and aggressive steps to increase the risks to the population.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Why would he do that? Because he was far more worried about being labeled a racist than protecting human life. In addition, buoying his future political prospects by virtue signaling in front of the cameras is also a likely explanation.<\/span><\/p>\n

Four days before Fletcher was interviewed on February 4 by KUSI about the pandemic, the virus had begun to <\/span>spread<\/span><\/a> exponentially across the globe, with the 11th American case confirmed. Five days before, the WHO declared a Public Health Emergency of International concern, and soon later a pandemic.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

During the interview, Fletcher strongly encouraged everyone to go about their daily lives, even hinting that if you did not, you were a bigot. Fletcher misled the public about the spread nationally and emphatically <\/span>stated<\/span><\/a>, \u201cFear of a virus that hasn’t even manifested in our county, there is no reason, at all, to avoid any part of our community or any section of our community. Many have been targeted with acts of racism and we\u2019ve seen old stereotypes and stigmas come back using a virus as a justification for this.\u201d Fletcher offered no <\/span>evidence or examples of acts of racism, of course. He was just making unsubstantiated claims for political reasons, promoting divisiveness that we don’t need right now\u2014or ever.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Fletcher then made more dangerous falsehoods by <\/span>saying<\/span><\/a>, \u201cThe only way to date that we know that people have acquired this is by going to one specific province in China. You are at no risk of getting the virus by coming to a restaurant in Kearny Mesa. At this point the risk to the public is low and folks should not be fearful of getting out and going to any part of the community.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Was Fletcher dangerously ignorant of what was happening across the globe by dismissing the growing pandemic? He was either horribly misinformed, which is unlikely, or he was so intent on virtue signaling and getting TV face time to buoy his future political prospects, that human lives didn\u2019t matter.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Three weeks later, taking the helm of the county\u2019s response to the virus, Supervisor Fletcher gave San Diegans his list of <\/span>essential businesses<\/span><\/a> that were allowed to remain open, even going so far as to ask for the public\u2019s help in reporting on non-essential businesses still open. He then took the extremely careless and unconstitutional step of declaring gun stores nonessential and ordered them to be closed in the county immediately.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

San Diego Gun Owners Association President Michael Schwartz rightfully <\/span>blasted<\/span><\/a> Fletcher for his actions: \u201cWe have a harsh condemnation for Supervisor Fletcher and are extremely disappointed with his inflammatory rhetoric about closing gun shops,\u201d said SDGOA\u2019s Schwartz. \u201cThe Supervisor\u2019s potentially dangerous statements were ludicrous and escalated an already tense situation unnecessarily with bad information. Nathan Fletcher should stop his inflammatory rhetoric and concentrate on the business of running the county.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Schwartz continued: \u201cThe situation has been made worse by overreacting politicians who stoke public outrage with their incendiary and reckless comments as they flex their egos in the name of safeguarding public health. During a time when people are trying to make sure they remain safe and secure is not a time to advance your political agenda. For the sake of the safety of all San Diegans, please be a part of the solution rather than creating yet another problem.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Four days later, Sheriff Gore <\/span>overrode<\/span><\/a> Fletcher\u2019s decree and stated that gun stores can remain open for business during the crisis.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This isn\u2019t the first time that Fletcher has ignored solid advice and instead chose to virtue signal at the public\u2019s expense.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Back when Fletcher was an Assemblyman, he was the lead champion for <\/span>banning<\/span><\/a> single-use plastic bags in San Diego, ignoring the science that proved that it would lead to disease manifestation and spread.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Just a few months later, San Diego was hit hard by a <\/span>hepatitis outbreak<\/span><\/a> spread by fecal contamination, killing 16 and sickening 421 by November of that year. The Huffington Post<\/em> posted an <\/span>article<\/span><\/a> at the time titled \u201cSan Diego\u2019s Hepatitis Outbreak Is A Man-Made Disaster.”\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Since then, numerous California counties and entire states have <\/span>cancelled<\/span><\/a> their bans on plastic bags, with some calling for an outright ban on bags that are reusable due to the spread of disease. Supervisor Fletcher, however, has decided not to address this issue.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

What about Fletcher\u2019s capstone issues of relentlessly pushing for <\/span>high-density housing<\/span><\/a> and <\/span>forcing<\/span><\/a> people out of their cars into <\/span>mass transit<\/span><\/a>? To date, Fletcher seems to be moving forward on those initiatives. Let\u2019s all thank God that these initiatives weren\u2019t fully implemented before the coronavirus pandemic. Who knows how many more innocent victims of the virus there would be in San Diego County. Who\u2019s eager to cram into a high-density apartment building or sit shoulder to shoulder on a two-hour bus or train these days?<\/span><\/p>\n

Fletcher has been the cheerleader of one of the most anti-small business bills in the history of California, <\/span>AB 5<\/span><\/a>. Along with his wife Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez-Fletcher, he has helped aggressively push the law forward, throwing hundreds of thousands of hard-working independent contractors and freelancers out of work. This comes at a time when the California unemployment rate is already <\/span>soaring<\/span><\/a> to record highs.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In only four weeks, <\/span>22 million<\/span><\/a> Americans lost their jobs and filed unemployment claims. That number grows daily. The Small Business Administration has <\/span>run out<\/span><\/a> of money for its paycheck protection program, which means that millions are unable to apply for emergency loans.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s good to know where Fletcher\u2019s priorities lie.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Is this the kind of person you want to lead the response to the virus, who has authority to dictate what businesses are essential or not? Does this sound like a person who cares about the public more than his own ego and political future?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

San Diego deserves much better.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Written by Scott Chipman Supervisor Fletcher has emerged as the leading figure in San Diego\u2019s fight against the Wuhan virus and many people are beginning to realize that his serious lack of judgement and political ambitions should prevent him from ever having that much power.\u00a0\u00a0 As this deadly virus emerged from Eastern China and began…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":2560,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2923","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-opinion"],"yoast_head":"\nWhy Supervisor Nathan Fletcher is the Worst Person to Lead our COVID-19 Response - San Diego News Desk<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sandiegonewsdesk.com\/?p=2923\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Why Supervisor Nathan Fletcher is the Worst Person to Lead our COVID-19 Response - 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