Richland County recommends $1.5M for coronavirus response but table stay-at-home vote
A Richland County Council committee voted Saturday to put $1.5 million toward responding to the coronavirus.
The council’s coronavirus ad hoc committee passed funding for business relief, public safety and food needs as COVID-19, the illness caused by the coronavirus, continues to spread its effects through all levels of Richland County.
“We’re trying to meet some immediate concerns,” County Chair Paul Livingston said.
More than 530 people in South Carolina have tested positive for COVID-19 while at least 13 have died, according to health officials. With 65 known cases Richland County ranks second in the state for the most confirmed cases.
The committee allocated $500,000 to helping small businesses as coronavirus pounds the economy and hurts the bottom lines of stores and services. Livingston said the allocation would help “fill in the gap” left by federal stimulus funding. Livingston said certain Richland County businesses may not meet requirements for the money passed by Congress, and that the committee wanted to help those that might miss out on federal dollars.
The committee also voted to extend — to June 20— the due date for businesses to pay monthly hospitality taxes.
The committee allocated $500,000 toward purchasing personal protective equipment, like masks, and other resources for the Richland County Sheriff’s Department as it deals with the health hazards of policing during the time of coronavirus.
Sheriff Leon Lott said that additional steps have been put in place to protect deputies and citizens, including scrubbing down and cleaning patrol cars on a more frequent basis. “This is a war and the soldiers on the front line are our deputies,” Lott said during Saturday’s meeting.
Along with the vote for extra money for the sheriff’s department, the council members committed to paying overtime and shoring up other potential department needs. Lott said that while the coronavirus crisis hasn’t spurred a huge spike in crime, there are still “criminals trying to take advantage” of the situation.
“We got to have the people out there to be high visibility and fight the criminals we got,” Lott said.
The committee also recommended putting $500,000 toward providing food for seniors and moderate to low-income households.
The $1.5 million spending proposal must now be approved by the full City Council, which is expected to discuss the committee’s plan during its Tuesday meeting.
While the allocation process was carried out with little disagreement among the committee’s five members, Saturday’s session became more contentious when they discussed whether to pass a shelter-in-place ordinance.
Livingston said he was concerned that large manufacturers in the county weren’t taking precautions to prevent the spread of COVID-19 among their workers. He said that an order requiring people to largely stay at home was key to “flattening the curve,” a term commonly used to describe slowing the virus’ spread.
The discussion about a shelter-in-place ordinance was tabled until more medical experts could advise council.
After the meeting, Council Member Joe Walker expressed doubts about the effectiveness of such a measure, and also cited state Attorney General Alan Wilson’s recent opinion on whether shelter-in-place orders were legal. Wilson recently questioned the legality of the South Carolina municipalities and local governments passing shelter-in-place laws; both Columbia and Charleston have approved such ordinances.
“I’m for listening to subject matter experts,” said Walker, who noted that neither Lott nor the Department of Health and Environmental Control has called for a shelter-in-place ordinance.
During Saturday’s meeting Lott said he didn’t feel that a stay-at-home order was necessary at the moment; Lott said that residents across Richland County were already staying in their homes, and were even notifying authorities when they saw people gathering in large numbers.
This story was originally published March 28, 2020 at 3:16 PM.