San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo has made a public apology after he violated health orders and celebrated Thanksgiving with members of five different households, ignoring the advice of public health experts, including Santa Clara County Health Officer Dr. Sara Cody.
NBC Bay Area first reported that Liccardo spent the holiday at his parents’ home in Saratoga with an unknown number of guests.
Jim Reed, Liccardo’s Chief of Staff initially told the station: "This is a private event - not public. We are going to redraw the line between what is personal and what is public because that line has become blurred."
In a statement posted to social media Tuesday afternoon, Liccardo said that he and his wife spent Thanksgiving with his parents and sister-in-law. The group was later joined by his brother and his sister, her son and daughter-in-law. Altogether, the group of eight was made up of five separate households who "sat around three distanced tables in our own family groups on the back patio, and we wore masks when not eating."
Liccardo added that the gathering was much smaller than his family's typical Thanksgiving gatherings.
While some precautions were taken, the dinner violated state guidelines that limit private gatherings to no more than three households.
"Keep your holiday gatherings to your immediate household members only," Santa Clara County Health Officer Dr. Sara Cody cautioned ahead of Thanksgiving. "I cannot emphasize enough, gathering with friends and family who are not in your household is not safe."
Liccardo himself urged San Jose residents to avoid big gatherings and "focus on keeping each other safe" over the holiday, blaming the ongoing surge in cases on people letting their guards down.
In the statement, Liccardo apologized for ignoring the guidelines.
“I apologize for my decision to gather contrary to state rules, by attending this Thanksgiving meal with my family. I understand my obligation as a public official to provide exemplary compliance with the public health orders, and certainly not to ignore them. I commit to do better."
Just two days after Thanksgiving, Dr. Cody announced tighter restrictions for Santa Clara County as cases and hospitalizations have continued to rise.
California saw a record number of hospitalizations Saturday. Gov. Gavin Newsom, who himself has come under heavy criticism for violating state health orders at a birthday party last month, warned Monday that at the current rate, the state is projected to run out of ICU beds by Christmas Eve.
Related
