North County Tea Party members meet outdoors at Republican Headquarters
–A monthly meeting at Republican County Headquarters in Atascadero moved outdoors Monday evening because of concerns about the coronavirus. The Tea Party group set up chairs in the parking lot of Adobe Plaza. Two speakers talked with El Camino Real providing a dynamic backdrop.
San Luis Obispo County Supervisor Debbie Arnold told the group about efforts to reopen businesses, churches, gyms, and other entities impacted by the state-imposed shutdown. She answered questions from Tea Party members upset about the lack of progress in ending the shutdown and reopening businesses. Debbie said San Luis Obispo County Supervisors may address that issue at their meeting Tuesday.
Mike Brown of the Coalition of Labor, Agriculture, and Business spoke about the protests and looting and his personal experiences with civic unrest as city manager of Berkeley and Hartford, Connecticut. Brown said his daughter is a Deputy City Attorney in Santa Monica. He said Sunday, Santa Monica police arrested 400 people in Santa Monica during the protests and the vandalism and looting that followed. He said 95-percent of those arrested came from areas outside Santa Monica. He said many of the protesters took the light rail into the city from downtown LA.
Brown described how the Berkeley police quelled rioting in the East Bay during his tenure with the Berkeley City Council. He said when violent rioters confronted a line of police officers, the officers would implement a flanking movement to make them disperse.
The alfresco meeting provided an opportunity for passersby to honk in support of the Tea Party, although most people did not know who was meeting in folding chairs in the parking lot of Adobe Plaza in Atascadero.