The Tri-County Chamber Alliance has voiced its support for a movement to see Ventura, Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties become their own region for COVID-19 regulation.
The organization has sent a letter and petition from with more than 5,400 signatures to Gov. Gavin Newsom.
Currently, the counties are part of the Southern California region, which includes Los Angeles, Orange and San Diego and other counties. The new region would be called the Central Coast.
Officials from Ventura, Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties announced the Central Coast plan earlier this month, irate over the fact that they have been lumped together with much more populous counties and forced to implement the same business restrictions when the Central Coast pandemic figures have been much lower. The issue came to a head this week when the owner of Nick the Greek, a restaurant in Ventura, was filmed confronting a pair of health inspectors prepared to fine him for operating take-out pick up outside his restaurant. The news gathered increased attention after President Donald Trump’s daughter, Ivanka Trump, tweeted about it.