Regional Governments

With encouraging results in the fight against the coronavirus, San Diego County supervisors have voted to ask the state to allow California’s second-largest county to be a test case for whether more rapid reopening can safely occur.

El Centro Mayor Efrain Silva tells KPBS about the process of reopening the economy in Imperial County and the challenges of being an elected official during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The county has five supervisorial districts, and district lines can shape a community's ability to elect the representative of their choice. The county clerk will take commission applications through July 31.

Political leaders in San Diego say state requirements to reopen businesses are too strict. Meanwhile businesses in Oceanside plan to reopen in violation of local health orders.

Hunter's defense lawyer said the virus outbreak makes it a bad time to add to the prison population. Corrections facilities have been releasing inmates to control the spread of the virus.

In the joint motion filed in the Southern District of California, Hunter was asking the court to extend his self-surrender date to Jan. 4, 2021 because of the “ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and the unknown impacts of the disease” in the coming months. He was scheduled to surrender on May 29.

San Diego stands to lose millions in economic and tax revenue due to the cancellation of Comic-Con, the San Diego County Fair, and the annual San Diego Pride Festival.

The policy, which was put forward in a resolution sponsored by Supervisors Nathan Fletcher and Kristin Gaspar, will give authority to the county's chief administrative officer to work with financial institutions to halt foreclosures and foreclosure-related evictions; and allow the county Housing Authority to extend the deadline for recipients, including those who receive Section 8 support.

The coronavirus outbreak is creating big-budget unknowns for cities, the county and schools. The future of billion-dollar budgets is unclear as local governments, schools respond to the virus.

San Diego officials say researchers are stil trying to figure out more about the COVID 19 virus.