To protest COVID mandates, this California town declared itself a ‘constitutional republic’ | Santa Rosa Press Democrat - Hailey Branson-Potts, Los Angeles Times:
November 29, 2021 - "For Oroville Vice Mayor Scott Thomson, the father of two young boys, Gov. Gavin Newsom’s mandate requiring schoolchildren to be vaccinated against COVID-19 was the final straw. He believed the government had no right to tell him what to put into his, or his children’s, bodies. Many of his constituents agreed when it came to pandemic mandates. And so, he came up with a grandiose, headline-grabbing nom de guerre for his small Northern California city.
"Oroville declared itself a constitutional republic. A place where the local leaders pledge to fight mandates they say go too far. 'Any executive orders issued by the State of California or by the United States federal government that are overreaching or clearly violate our constitutionally protected rights will not be enforced by the City of Oroville against its citizens,' read the declaration passed this month by the City Council....
"For some, the declaration was a stand for freedom. But others in town saw it as a reckless tantrum amid an ongoing pandemic that has killed more than 73,000 Californians. Butte County, population about 220,000, has one of the state’s lowest vaccination rates. As of Saturday, 47% of its residents were fully vaccinated, compared with 64% of all Californians. Butte County’s largest hospital, the 298-bed Enloe Medical Center in Chico, has averaged 26 COVID-19 patients over the last week — more than all but one hospital in Los Angeles County, home to 10 million people....
"Oroville, a city of 20,000, is now one of a growing number of rural California communities in recent years to label itself a sanctuary or a place otherwise exempt from some liberal ideal. Two years ago, the desert town of Needles became a 'sanctuary city' for the 2nd Amendment in a rebuke of California’s strict gun-control laws. And in defiance of pandemic shutdown orders, the Central Valley towns of Atwater and Coalinga last year declared themselves, respectively, a 'sanctuary city for business' and a town where all businesses are essential — with both losing emergency COVID-19 funding in the process. Designed to benefit from the buzz of California’s 'sanctuary' designations used in the context of protecting undocumented immigrants, the labels reflect tensions between rural towns and the Newsom administration — and the left in general. Oroville’s constitutional republic resolution is mostly symbolic, with no power over schools, which are regulated by the state.
"At the Oroville City Council meeting at which the constitutional republic resolution was approved, a city staffer had to clarify to one commenter that the resolution was not 'beginning the effort for Oroville to secede from California and from the Union.' One speaker was an older man who compared the resolution to the decades-old State of Jefferson movement, which calls for California’s rural, conservative northern counties to secede and form their own state. 'These "constitutional republic" people would probably prevent mask mandates,' the man said, citing the county’s vaccination rate. 'In other words, they’re looking to kill people.' The audience broke out in laughter. When the resolution passed, they cheered.
"Thomson said the impetus for the declaration was vaccine mandates, especially the one for schoolchildren, which has been opposed by multiple Butte County school districts and has sparked protests across the state, including in cities like Los Angeles. 'Now that the mandates have gone from not just putting something on the outside of your body or modifying how you run your business, but now shoving something inside your body that nobody knows the long-term effects of, that’s just like, OK, now you’re, in my opinion, crossing the line,' Thomson said. Thomson, the pastor of an Assembly of God church, said he is not anti-mask or opposed to the vaccine for people who want it. He said he and his sons are not vaccinated but that they now have antibodies after a mild bout with COVID-19 in August. 'There are people out there who are like, "This whole thing is a hoax,"' Thomson said. 'We are not like that'.... He said that unvaccinated city employees are tested weekly for COVID-19 at the city’s expense. And his church has handed out hundreds of masks to congregants....
"Councilwoman Krysi Riggs said she cast the sole no vote against the declaration because she believed the best way for city leaders to push back against mandates is through the judicial system, not through a resolution. But, she said, she understands the frustration with the mandates.... When wildfires broke out across Butte County last summer, the smoky air in Oroville was toxic — but indoor dining was banned across the state because of the virus, leaving local restaurants in a bind, Riggs said.
"Brian Wong, who opened the Union Bar & Grill in Oroville in fall 2019, said he thought the city’s statement about the mandates was 'very courageous.' As a small-business owner, Wong said he felt like he had to navigate complicated and ever-changing state rules on his own.... Wong, who also owns the 109-year-old Chinese restaurant Tong Fong Low, said he spent a lot of money to build a patio for outdoor dining and required his dozens of employees to wear masks for more than a year, until vaccines became widely available."
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