{"id":1319956,"date":"2020-05-14T18:39:40","date_gmt":"2020-05-15T00:39:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.postindependent.com\/?p=996442"},"modified":"2020-05-14T21:31:16","modified_gmt":"2020-05-15T03:31:16","slug":"dear-coloradan-polis-sends-form-letter-response-to-garfield-countys-request-for-local-control","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/local-news\/dear-coloradan-polis-sends-form-letter-response-to-garfield-countys-request-for-local-control\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Dear Coloradan:\u2019 Polis sends form-letter response to Garfield County\u2019s request for local control"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure class=\"wp-block-image p402_hide\">\n<div class=\"caption-container\">\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"669\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.postindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/04\/AP20113816349165.jpg\" class=\"attachment-large size-large wp-post-image\" alt srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.postindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/04\/AP20113816349165.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/cdn.postindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/04\/AP20113816349165-300x196.jpg 300w, https:\/\/cdn.postindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/04\/AP20113816349165-768x502.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\"><\/p><figcaption><strong>Colorado Governor Jared Polis puts on his face mask after a news conference to update the state&#8217;s efforts to stop the spread of the new coronavirus Wednesday, April 22, 2020, in Denver.<\/strong><br \/><em>AP Photo\/David Zalubowski<\/em><\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p>Garfield County Commission Chairman John Martin grew increasingly frustrated as he read aloud a form letter he received from Gov. Jared Polis\u2019 office Thursday afternoon.<\/p>\n<p>Martin sent two letters of his own this week to Gov. Jared Polis on behalf of the Board of County Commissioners \u2014 one Monday and another on Wednesday \u2014 requesting an executive order that would allow the county and others to assume local control over when and how restaurants and other businesses begin to reopen.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGarfield County requests you issue a new Executive Order to allow the less affected, the willing and able counties to regain their local control, by addressing the impacts on their citizens, and restore confidence in government,\u201d Martin wrote in the Wednesday letter.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTime is important, let\u2019s not wait and let the civil unrest movement gel, give flexibility to the local governing bodies, and allow them the ability to cure the many issues that are facing local governments and Colorado, during this trying time.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"row\">\n<div class=\"col\" readability=\"6\">\n<div class=\"row gspi-donation gspi-donation-mobile p-0\" readability=\"7\">\n<div class=\"col-xl-4 p-2\">\n<div data-bg=\"url(https:\/\/cdn.postindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/03\/PI-logo-white.png)\" class=\"p-0 mt-2 mb-2 h-75 text-center rocket-lazyload\">\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.postindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/03\/PI-logo-white.png\" class=\"logo m-0 p-0 invisible\"><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><h3 class=\"d-inline mr-3\">Support Local Journalism<\/h3>\n<p><button class=\"btn d-inline\" type=\"button\" onclick=\"handleDonationButtonClickMidArticle()\">Donate<\/button><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>The request comes as the number of new local COVID-19 cases <a href=\"https:\/\/www.postindependent.com\/news\/latest-coronavirus-stats-from-area-hospitals-show-little-change-this-week\/\">drops off<\/a>, and businesses are chomping at the bit to be able to open and expand services ahead of the state\u2019s timeline to do so.<\/p>\n<p>The county\u2019s letters were sent out ahead of a formal request to the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment seeking a variance to reopen restaurants and other businesses that remain closed or limited due to public health orders related to the coronavirus pandemic.<\/p>\n<p>Commissioners will formally consider the variance request at a special meeting slated for 2 p.m. Friday. To view or to sign up to comment during the meeting, <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"click here (opens in a new tab)\" href=\"https:\/\/www.garfield-county.com\/board-commissioners\/meetings\/\" target=\"_blank\">click here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWith guarded expectations after the letters we sent to the governor, we received a standard form letter telling us all things he has done to help small businesses, that these are challenging times \u2026 and to please contact this website,\u201d Martin said, referring to the state\u2019s COVID-19 Issues and Concerns <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"web page (opens in a new tab)\" href=\"https:\/\/covid19.colorado.gov\/CovidConcerns\" target=\"_blank\">web page<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h4>Read the letters:<\/h4>\n<p>\u201cI guess I\u2019m going to have to write another letter tomorrow,\u201d Martin said.<\/p>\n<p>Garfield County is trying to react to growing unrest among some restaurant and other business owners as state orders continue to prevent them from reopening fully until the state reconsiders the situation later this month. Polis has said he won\u2019t revisit the rules regarding restaurants until May 25.<\/p>\n<p>Unless a variance is granted, as in the case of Mesa County, restaurants are now limited to take-out and delivery service only.<\/p>\n<p>But one Rifle restaurant, Shooters Grill \u2014 owned by congressional candidate Lauren Boebert \u2014 has been openly defying the orders this week. Since last weekend, Shooters has been serving customers inside the restaurant at what Boebert said was 30% capacity \u2014 same as Mesa County is now allowed.<\/p>\n<p>After a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.postindependent.com\/news\/shooters-grill-in-rifle-served-with-cease-and-desist-order-after-reopening-against-state-public-health-orders\/\">temporary restraining<\/a> order was issued by the courts Wednesday directing her to stop, she was continuing to serve customers at outside tables on Thursday.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe have civil unrest and uncooperation, and it\u2019s going to grow,\u201d Martin said. \u201cAnd we\u2019ll probably see more of it all across the state. We need to have local control to be able to open up our businesses. That\u2019s all we\u2019re asking.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The forthcoming variance request asks that restaurants be allowed to open as soon as possible at 30% capacity, with both inside and outside dining. The county also wants the ability to monitor other businesses that are willing to open, such as gyms, hotels and motels and outdoor recreation outfitters, as well as places of worship.<\/p>\n<p>The second letter sent on Wednesday was more pointed in the county\u2019s stated need to control the growing unrest.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSome public members and groups are unwilling to adhere to some parts of the health order,\u201d the letter states. \u201cOther groups of like businesses are banding together and talking about challenging or defy (sic) the orders in larger numbers.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGarfield County is doing well so far in keeping the lid on our several hot spots. Soon, however, there will be less ability to control an outbreak of defiance.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>It reiterates the request in Monday\u2019s letter \u2014 sent following a <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"discussion (opens in a new tab)\" href=\"https:\/\/www.postindependent.com\/news\/garfield-county-to-seek-state-waiver-to-allow-restaurants-other-businesses-to-reopen\/\">discussion<\/a> at the regular commissioners meeting \u2014 asking Polis to issue an executive order to allow local control over the situation and \u201cquell the unrest.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In an undated response letter beginning with \u201cDear Coloradan\u201d signed by Polis, the governor said the request will be taken under consideration.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe have received your request for an exemption, and are thoughtfully examining the merits of your proposal,\u201d the governor\u2019s letter reads. \u201cHowever, we are only granting these on a case-by-case basis, as exemptions undermine our ability to limit and prevent the spread of COVID-19.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><em><a href=\"mailto:jstroud@postindependent.com\">jstroud@postindependent.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<p> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.postindependent.com\/news\/dear-coloradan-polis-sends-form-letter-response-to-garfield-countys-request-for-local-control\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">via:: Post Independent<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Colorado Governor Jared Polis puts on his face mask after a news conference to update the state&#8217;s efforts to stop the spread of the new coronavirus Wednesday, April 22, 2020, in Denver.AP Photo\/David Zalubowski Garfield County Commission Chairman John Martin grew increasingly frustrated as he read aloud a form letter he received from Gov. Jared [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[160],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-1319956","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-local-news"},"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-23 19:07:38","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSKE Ski Country","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1319956","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1319956"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1319956\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1319963,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1319956\/revisions\/1319963"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1319956"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1319956"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1319956"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}