Guadalupe Police: People from out-of-town not following health orders at sports venues during pandemic

GUADALUPE, Calif. - Guadalupe may be small in size, but the city managers are big on keeping their community safe during the pandemic.

“So even if there were 100 active cases in the city of Guadalupe that would be quite high for us just given the small geographic space and how densely populated we are,” said Human Resources Manager Emiko Gerber of the City of Guadalupe.

The city of just 10,000 people is attracting people from other parts of the Central Coast.

Guadalupe police are now seeing people in violation of health orders playing organized sports at McConnell and Leroy Parks.

“Where people from organized groups for softball and soccer come here and try to use our fields to play those organize sports without social distancing and so we had to shoo them away,” said City Administrator Todd Bodem of the City of Guadalupe.

City managers say these sports players are not from Guadalupe.

“I think they feel we are a little town and nobody would know or think anything twice of it,” said Bodem.

Guadalupe police will continue patrolling all parks to make sure everyone is following health protocols.

“I just want people to be aware that the city takes the health ordinance very seriously in terms of not just protecting yourself and your loved one, but other people as well. That’s a major concern,” said Gerber.

As the pandemic continues, the city is reminding everyone that there can be no organized sports at any of the parks.