MONTROSE, Pa. — Residents in Susquehanna County want their local officials to follow in the footsteps of places like Schuylkill County, but commissioners there say they can't, and they won't.
That led to a public clash between officials and their constituents on Monday in Montrose.
At a news conference in Susquehanna County on Monday, a big point made by the state legislators there was that people were cooperative in the beginning when the goal was to flatten the curve and gain knowledge about this new illness. People complied with state mandates and made sacrifices.
But they say now that those goals seem to have already been accomplished, people are losing patience.
Moments later, that frustration and impatience was on full display as county commissioners engaged in direct confrontations with residents.
Tensions boiled over outside the Susquehanna County Courthouse in Montrose.
County commissioners clashed directly with residents who were calling for the county to reopen on its own, as several counties in the state have announced they'll do.
Minutes earlier, county commissioners and state senators and representatives were holding a news conference calling the decision to keep Susquehanna County in the red phase illogical and unfair, pointing out the county hasn't added any new cases in the last two weeks.
"Gov. Wolf is absolutely wrong on Susquehanna County," said Rep. Tina Pickett, (R) 110th District.
"It just makes no logical sense anymore," said State Senator Gene Yaw, (R) 23rd District. "The key to this whole thing is logic. We will do things, as long as there's logic."
"People don't trust the wisdom of a state government - a government who reopened Pittsburgh and Allegheny County before Montrose, New Milford, and Great Bend," said State Senator Lisa Baker (R) 20th District.
"The reality is he's moving the goalposts. And that fuels frustration and people's patience is running very, very thin," said Rep. Jonathan Fritz, (R) 111th District.
And that was evident by the crowd outside the courthouse.
But the county commissioners said they do not have the authority to move the county to the yellow phase without Governor Wolf's approval, and doing so would put the county at risk of losing state funding and business owners at risk of losing state licenses and permits.
Although there were several contentious moments, the protest wrapped up on a civil note, with the county commissioners reminding everyone that now is the time to work together.
"There's a lot of frustration, and they want answers. But also, the county commissioners want answers too. They're sending emails and phone calls to the governor, just like us citizens. And they're not getting any answers back. The governor's being quiet on this whole thing. He doesn't care about Susquehanna County, and that's why we have to make our voice heard," said Hallstead resident Al Bisner.
That was a point that the county commissioners and state legislators echoed during the news conference. They said they have not received any answers from Governor Wolf's office as to why the county is still in the red phase, and they're calling for more transparency.
"Our numbers were down to less than half of what we needed. No explanations, no phone calls, nothing," said Commissioner Alan Hall. "They say there's other criteria, but then they don't share this information. We have no reason as to why we're not open [...] The people making the decisions in Harrisburg about our county have no idea about our county. And if they are calling, they are definitely calling the wrong people."