Central, E. Oregon county officials urge Gov. Brown to reopen rural regions soon

'Please consider May 1st as the target date to restart'

BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) -- Many rural counties in Central and Eastern Oregon are anxious to reopen, to help small businesses get back on their feet.

Deschutes and Jefferson County commissioners were among 27 who signed a letter a week ago to Gov. Kate Brown asking her to allow businesses to reopen by May 1, and got to speak with her about the complex issues facing communities nationwide during a conference call Monday afternoon.

Deschutes County Commissioner Tony DeBone said Monday that counties are figuring out a framework to ensure that if businesses reopen, there are, for example, enough personal protective equipment for workers who have close contact with clients like doctors.

"There's many layers to the companies impacted right now," DeBone said. "We think of personal services and medical needs, those are the services and businesses we have, but we also think of tourism and restaurants, it's very dynamic for each of these companies.

"So we're going to have to figure out which companies and procedures -- you know, the number of people inside one building and the number of people inside each business."

DeBone and others say businesses in smaller communities won't be able to recover from the economic impact of closures in the same way a larger metropolitan area can. They want the governor to consider population density and the size of a community to reopen different regions of the state.