Commissioner Kevin Boozel, with help from the state County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania (CCAP), arranged for a telephone call Wednesday afternoon between the three Butler County Commissioners and the state Office of Intergovernmental Affairs to discuss indicators and benchmarks needed to move to the yellow phase during the coronavirus pandemic.

But when a fellow commissioner invited representatives from all the other counties in the region — who are also seeking answers — to participate in the call, it was canceled.

Boozel said the commissioners decided to institute legal action against Gov. Tom Wolf's administration because of the lack of communication between the state and county commissioners regarding the reasons counties were told they would not move from the current red phase to yellow, which would lift some restrictions.

The legal action is technically on behalf of the county's businesses, many of which are pleading with commissioners to urge Wolf to switch Butler County from red to yellow status.

Boozel contends that if enough information was shared, then the call from Intergovernmental Affairs could have negated the need for the legal action.

“I really think it does not behoove our region or county to go up against our governor in a pandemic,” Boozel said. “We are going to garner more by working together than we ever will in court.”

Boozel had hoped the initial call with Butler County would be a kickoff to discussing reasoning for movement to the yellow phase among all commissioners in the southwestern region of Pennsylvania.

Commissioner Kim Geyer said commissioners in counties surrounding Butler have voiced their frustration that Allegheny County — which is not involved in the legal action announced this week — has received communication from the state while others have not.

“I believe that other counties, given the facts and lack of communication, would not appreciate at this point in time to hear of a county having their own separate side conversations while others are not given the same opportunity,” Geyer said.

Leslie Osche, commissioners chair, forwarded the email from Intergovernmental Affairs to all of the other county commissioners in the Southwest region.

When Intergovernmental Affairs heard several county commissioners might be involved in the call, they canceled it and said a virtual meeting between the Secretary of Intergovernmental Affairs and a representative from the Department of Health would be scheduled to include all the commissioners in the Southwest region.

That meeting was not scheduled as of Wednesday night.

Boozel said Intergovernmental Affairs told him the 30 minutes allotted for the meeting would not be enough time to adequately answer the questions of a large group of commissioners.

Boozel had hoped the conversation with the Butler Commissioners would answer the board's questions about how Wolf chooses which counties would move from the red to yellow phases, thereby negating the need for a lawsuit.

He said CCAP also agreed to hold biweekly virtual meetings with commissioners about what would be needed to move red counties to yellow status.

Boozel said as he understood it, the legal action was being filed because of the lack of communication from the state regarding why Butler County and others in the region were not moving to yellow status on Friday and information on what counties need to do to move to yellow.

“We do not need to pursue this lawsuit,” Boozel said, frustrated over the potential of legal action.

Osche said she sent the email regarding the Wednesday call to other commissioners in the region because Wolf said the state would be reopened by region.

“I sent it out to everyone,” Osche said. “I think it's important that we are all (on the call) because why would you want to repeat all these things 900 times (to other county commissioners)?”

Shortly after the informational call between Intergovernmental Affairs and Butler County was canceled, commissioners in neighboring Armstrong County sent a letter to Wolf asking to be moved from red to yellow status.

Osche said even if Wolf moves Butler County to yellow status at a news conference slated for Friday, the legal action will continue because there is no assurance that the county won't be moved back to red.

“Communication from the state has been very disjointed and sporadic,” Osche said.

She pointed to various instances in which state officials made decisions, only to rescind them the next day.

Boozel, on the other hand, said if the governor moves the county from red to yellow on Friday, the legal action would be moot because businesses could reopen with social distancing restrictions.

Osche said the county should stick with the legal action to back the county's businesses.

“Our businesses would be terribly disappointed if we were to back off the lawsuit now,” Osche said. “The time for that has passed and our partners in the other counties are already voting on it.”

Boozel also voiced concern about moving too quickly and causing a renewed COVID-19 outbreak.

He lost a friend to the disease, adding that the man was terrified before his death because his wife had also tested positive.

“That really shook me,” Boozel said.

Osche pointed out that those in favor of the legal action are not trying to jeopardize safety.

She said the county and region have flattened the curve and Butler County is prepared for any outbreak that might happen.

Both Osche and Boozel said the Butler commissioners have worked well together thus far, although Boozel is a Democrat and Osche and Geyer are Republicans.

Both said they will continue to do so.

“I believe we are going to work through this because we always have,” Osche said. “But in this case, sometimes you draw a line in the sand.”

The following data about the coronavirus pandemic are compiled daily from the Pennsylvania Department of Health’s website and regular releases from Butler Health System.Wednesday’s COVID-19 statistics:Butler CountyConfirmed cases: 185Negative tests: 2,583Deaths: 6BUTLER COUNTY BY ZIP CODE16001: 4916002: 1016023: 1 to 416025: 1 to 416027: 1 to 416033: 716037: 1 to 416038: 1 to 416041: 1 to 416045: 1 to 416046: 1116049: 916051: 1 to 416053: 1 to 416055: 1316056: 516057: 616059: 716061: 1 to 416063: 1016066: 2516127: 916229: 516262: 1 to 416373: 1 to 4PennsylvaniaNew cases: 888Total cases: 51,845New deaths: 94Total deaths: 3,106Negative tests: 204,495Butler Memorial HospitalInpatients: 6Suspected: 1Confirmed: 5ICU: 1Total tests: 2,976Outdoor tests: 2,063Positive tests: 214Clarion HospitalInpatients: 2Suspected: 0Confirmed: 2ICU: 0Total tests: 646Outdoor tests: 515Positive tests: 24Surrounding CountiesAllegheny: 1,394 confirmed cases, 18,006 negative test results, and 111 deathsArmstrong: 55 confirmed, 775 negative, and 3 deathsBeaver: 471 confirmed, 2,291 negative, and 76 deathsClarion: 23 confirmed, 529 negative, and 1 deathLawrence: 68 confirmed, 833 negative, and 7 deathsMercer: 69 confirmed, 845 negative, and 1 deathVenango: 7 confirmed and 273 negativeWestmoreland: 409 confirmed, 5,327 negative, and 29 deathsn The total cases includes confirmed and probable cases.n The total deaths and new deaths include only confirmed deaths, which is a person who tested positive for the virus before their death.