San Diego — County Inspector Nathan Fletcher was honored at Tuesday’s celebrations to initiate a full reopening of California, while protesters outside the event criticized his pandemic response.

The event hosted by the San Diego Event Alliance was held at the time when most of the state’s COVID-19 restrictions, including physical distance requirements and capacity restrictions for businesses and public gatherings, were lifted. For many in the event industry, this is a long-awaited day because of the 15-month restrictions imposed to stop the spread of the virus.

Since the outbreak of the pandemic, Fletcher has been one of the public figures in the county’s regular COVID-19 press conferences and has made important decisions about the local government’s response to the virus.

On Tuesday, he received an award for his work in the events industry throughout the year.

Fletcher said in his speech: “I hope we can do more soon, but there will be something when we come back to our event, and I know you will roar strongly.”

Others who received honors during the event included Natasha Collura of San Diego and Gary Johnston of the San Diego County Office of Emergency Services.

The coalition held this event in Quartyard, and despite the noise from the protesters outside, it still hopes to remain optimistic. Many events take months or even years to plan, so for stakeholders in the industry, the reopening is a long time.

Yinka Freeman, owner of Triple Pocket Events, said: “With the disappearance of the rating system, it does give the industry confidence that we can start moving forward.” “Starting to move forward today is the real reason we are here.”

But when Fletcher arrived at the event, he met protesters who held signs and mocked him.

Melissa Grace said that she formed the San Diego Rising Team last week after she learned that Fletcher will be honored by the league.

“We want to give the community members we care about an opportunity and a platform to express their voices and concerns about last year’s experience,” Grace said, “because until now we are not even allowed to go to the county administrative building and face our problems. Board of Supervisors.”