Palm Beach County commissioners voted unanimously to ask Governor DeSantis to allow them to begin phase one of opening up Palm Beach County and to distance the county from Broward and Miami Dade.

The Palm Beach County Mayor, Dave Kerner, will speak with the governor about opening up this afternoon via phone. However, Kerner adds that he does not need the governor’s permission to re-open. Kerner says Palm Beach County has full authority to open on its own terms and is not locked in with what Miami-Dade and Broward counties are doing.

Palm Beach County commissioners said they will also send a letter to Gov. Ron DeSantis asking him to move forward with the first phase of reopening for the county.

Currently, Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties are excluded from all areas of Phase One of the plan, with the exception of elective surgeries.

Under Phase One, which started on Monday, restaurants and retail shops across Florida can operate at 25% capacity.

Commissioner Hal Valeche called for a vote to ask DeSantis to disassociate Palm Beach County from Miami-Dade and Broward counties, and allow Palm Beach County to be added to Phase One of the reopening strategy.

Valeche called the first phase a “baby step” and said Palm Beach County shouldn’t delay in entering that phase.