Prineville mayor-elect says he’s not urging anyone to defy COVID-19 rules

But Jason Beebe says he wants 'overbearing restrictions' removed

PRINEVILLE, Ore. (KTVZ) -- Prineville Mayor-Elect Jason Beebe issued a clarifying note Monday about his involvement in a coalition of mayors seeking to let businesses reopen soon, saying that he does not support defying Gov. Kate Brown's COVID-19 executive orders.

Here's his full Monday statement:

Message from Mayor-Elect Jason Beebe

As we get ready to ring in a new year, I think it’s safe to say none of us anticipated what 2020 would bring. To say COVID-19 changed everything would be an understatement.

At the time of this writing, 411 cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed in Crook County.  Seven of them sadly resulting in death. My heart goes out to each and every person affected by this virus.

Together, as teachers, healthcare workers, businesses, and community members, we have done our part to meet these challenging times. Thanks to everyone’s efforts, 98.3 percent of Crook County remains virus-free.

As the City of Prineville looks forward to 2021, our focus is on opening local businesses as safely and quickly as possible. I fully believe that we can do so following OSHA industry guidelines that were adopted before the freeze.  

I am doing everything I can to advocate for removing regulations imposed by our state government, which includes looking under every rock to find a solution for our businesses. One rock was the Main Street Mayor’s Coalition, an organization representing communities whose business owners are ready to reopen safely.

I want to be clear that I am not encouraging citizens or businesses to defy state law.  What I am trying to do is get these overbearing restrictions removed so that we can live our lives with the liberties and freedoms guaranteed to us by our Constitution and fought and sacrificed for by generations of Americans.  

The restrictions that have shut down businesses throughout our city must end.  To date, I have not seen any data that suggest that restaurants, gyms, and other businesses that have been shut down disproportionately contribute to the spread of coronavirus compared to businesses that have remained open. We deserve to know the answer to this question, and I challenge Governor Brown to provide us this data.  

My experience with people in this community is that we care for our neighbors, including their health.  We do not wish to do anything that may get somebody sick, and we can support regulations and restrictions that contribute to this goal.  However, when regulations and restrictions are arbitrarily imposed upon our community, we deserve to know why.  

Please be safe this holiday season, and I wish you a Happy New Year.  

Jason Beebe
Prineville Mayor-Elect