Polis Says He Will Take Action if Weld County Fully Reopens Early
A showdown between Weld County and the state of Colorado could be coming Monday.
Governor Jared Polis said in a Friday virtual town hall he will "take action" if Weld County opens fully in defiance of the new statewide "Safer-At-Home" order as it has announced it will do.
Polis said to reopen legally, Weld County needs to first apply for a variance like Eagle and Mesa counties have. He also called Weld County one of the state's "hot spots" for the COVID-19 pandemic.
“They do not have any kind of unilateral ability to jeopardize the health of residents,” Polis said.
Polis said that if any county is not treating this like the emergency it is, they risk losing emergency funds.
Polis also said that Weld has not provided specific enough guidance for their citizens to stay safe and that businesses risk losing their licenses to operate under the state if they do decide to go against the state's order.
"We will absolutely will use every mechanism we have” Polis said.
"We want to work with the (Weld County) commissioners. We don't want to get into political games."
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