Good evening council. My name is Mario and I live in District 1. Austin Bishop is my councilmember, so my request is to you specifically. Vote NO to continue the State of Emergency. The abuses of our rights need to stop in Palmdale. Los Angeles County doesn’t own us and what little money they do give our city isn’t worth lying to the people or invading their medical privacy.
A State of Emergency is defined as a situation of urgent need for help and relief brought upon by a natural disaster, act of terrorism, or other crisis, as declared by a Governor, President, or Mayor. Cambridge defines it as an extreme condition caused by severe weather or war in which a government allows itself special powers.
Now I have to ask, do 361 deaths constitute a state of Emergency? What special powers ARE you giving yourself, telecommunications?
The city proudly displays the number of cases on our website, (30,059) Thirty-thousand and fifty nine, or 19% of our population of (152,921) One hundred fifty-two thousand, nine hundred and fifty. 1% of all those cases resulted in death according to the Los Angeles Public Health Department. We lost 0.2% (Two tenths of one percent) of our population to Covid-19 compared to 1.8% of residents affected by crime in the city.
361 Palmdale residents died from Coronavirus but, 403 residents were assaulted, 399 had their vehicle stolen, 1,065 suffered serious injuries in auto accidents of which 146 resulted in death. These numbers are publicly available from the California Office of Traffic & Safety as well as the Palmdale Sheriff Department. Do 361 deaths out of 30,000 infections mean that we must force additional testing for unvaccinated individuals even though studies have proved that unvaccinated individuals who have contracted coronavirus and recovered have more immunity and longer lasting protection than vaccinated individuals?
If that’s the case, we should immediately put up driver checkpoints across the city and have additional deputies posted around town. Thanks to a feckless District Attorney, crime has been given a green light, so the 661 violent crimes that happened last year are only expected to increase.
Last session the council ignored our request for a city ordinance banning mandatory testing, and vaccination in our city limits. Instead, you discussed options and gave us false hope. Yet you happily spent $150,000 to decorate the city for the holiday… with anticipated covid money? If you’re voting to continue the state of emergency to fund homeless projects or anything outside of the grant’s purview, we will find out.
Draw a line in the sand and say NO! This is NOT a State of Emergency!!!
We’ve always stood apart from Los Angeles, and we call it so, “down below”. We’re not better than Los Angeles, because when I travel, I say that I’m from the best part of LA. Very few people know where Palmdale is, but when you rise above, you stand apart, and everyone knows your name. Austin, are you a Bishop moved by the voters, or are you a pawn of the County? This voter wants to know.
