The Sonoma County Sheriff’s commitment to enforcing public health orders is under scrutiny after public records revealed that the department has issued no citations for violations of a public health order since last summer.
Reporter Kevin Fixler with the Santa Rosa Press Democrat has been writing about a church in violation of county health orders, and the discrepancy between a sheriff deputy's report about a service at the church and those from county code enforcement officials and the newspaper.
Fixler was interviewed on "The California Report" radio program this week. He said the department has started an internal affairs investigation because the deputy's report claimed the service was attended by no more than 15 people who were all outdoors and following guidelines.
"Whereas the code enforcement department documented well over 100 people, many without masks, singing," Fixler said. "Things that even a recent Supreme Court ruling don't permit. Is this a systemic problem or is this an isolated incident? There are questions that are still out there and probably deserve some answers."
The Sonoma County Board of Supervisors has already removed the bulk of enforcement duties from Sheriff Mark Essick's department, Fixler says.