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La Conner Mayor Ramon Hayes joined a major letter writing campaign last week.

And no one had to twist his arm.

Hayes, who owns a downtown business closed since the statewide Stay Home, Stay Healthy order was issued in March in response to the COVID-19 crisis, joined Skagit County’s seven other mayors in signing correspondence asking Gov. Jay Inslee to allow the County to apply to enter Phase 2 of his four-phase re-opening plan.

Hayes said science and recent data support the request.

He said the number of COVID-19 cases in the county has dwindled significantly, with none reported several days last week.

“If that holds,” said Hayes, “we’re definitely ready for Phase 2.”

There are other factors in Skagit County’s favor, Hayes said.

Those include reports from Skagit County Public Health Officer Howard Leibrand that the peak of hospitalizations here occurred in late March and that only about half of 25 ventilators available in Skagit County have been used at any one time.

Hayes told the Weekly News on Saturday that he agrees with Leibrand’s view that contact tracing is an even better tool than the number of recorded positive cases when it comes to assessing the status of COVID-19.

“Contact tracing,” Hayes insisted, “is a better indicator than the raw data.”

Contact tracing entails identifying close contacts of confirmed cases and isolating them to curb further spread of the coronavirus.

Either way, Hayes stressed that the present scenario is unsustainable.

“If the lockdown lasts much longer,” he said of business closures, “the damage to our economy will be irreparable. It won’t just be long-term damage. It will be irreparable.”

Under Phase 2, businesses previously deemed non-essential can begin to open on a gradual basis. Hair salons and barber shops can resume business during Phase 2, with restaurants allowed to operate dining rooms at half capacity and retailers providing in-person shopping.

Hayes is hopeful science can help define how businesses re-open safely.

“We have to find a way based on science,” he said. “We have an interdependent economy, so we just have to find a way.”

Other localities, including San Juan County and the City of Langley on Whidbey Island, believe they have done so by adopting mask-wearing requirements in business districts and commercial zones.

Hayes credits Mount Vernon Mayor Jill Boudreau with coordinating the Skagit County mayors’ letter initiative to Gov. Inslee.

“She shared the letter with us and within an hour had a response from everyone,” Hayes said. “We were all on-board.