Sunshine Sentinel

Some Floridians feel their local governments are out of touch with their own COVID-19 shutdown orders, according to Convention of States (COS) advocates.

“It is one set of standards for hardworking, taxpaying citizens and another for government,” said Brenda Karlin, state grassroots coordinator for Florida COS. “Who decides is a key question we need to ask ourselves relative to government. Is a government politician or employee who continues to be paid with full benefits in a position to tell a business owner?”

The Department of Health reports 32,138 total coronavirus cases and 1,088 deaths.

In response to the rising threat, Gov. Ron DeSantis signed Executive Order 20-52 on March 9, proclaiming a State of Emergency due to the COVID-19 outbreak. A month later on April 3, he issued a stay-at-home order that expires on April 30. Jacksonville leaders have since opened beaches, according to media reports.

"The complaint is that the government, the ones deciding, are not feeling the pain," Karlin told the Sun Shine Sentinel.

Some see the governor's executive orders as arbitrary, according to Karlin—orders made more restrictive in Franklin County when the Board of Commissioners gave enforcement powers not specified in the executive orders to the sheriff.

“Sheriff cars are going up and down the beach,” Karlin said. “Visitors, even if property owners or family members of residents, are being treated like criminals with license plates checked to determine if people are from the area. If someone has a license plate from another State with a hot spot, that person will be contacted and told to quarantine for 14 days or face a fine or jail time.”

Although the sheriff is only doing his job, Karlin believes the board’s mandate is an example of the government's overstepping their boundaries.

“They are ignoring our individual rights as spelled out in our Constitution and the Declaration of Independence,” she said.

COS announced recently that it activated Open the States, a nationwide response to what it sees as government overreach in the midst of the coronavirus outbreak after a rise in reports of economic damage and unemployment levels. For example, Florida's unemployment rate in March was 4.3 percent, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

"My role is to defend liberty according to our Constitution and Declaration of Independence as founded," Karlin said. "The role liberty plays in connection to businesses, the economy, and safety can be summed up by going to the Open the States website."

Some 121,000 Floridians are COS members, voicing their concerns by writing or emailing their county commissioners.

Recently, citizens in Port St. Lucie organized a peaceful car protest that ended at their Board of Elections.

“They are pushing a mail-in election," said Karlin, "while we are attending the Franklin County Commissioner’s virtual meetings, talking to each other and posting on social media sites for the Franklin County Sheriff, St. George Island Facebook pages, specific groups like Franklin County Cares, Concerned Citizens for Franklin County and others."