City Councilmembers in Lancaster unanimously approved a symbolic "vote of no confidence" of Los Angeles County Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer on Thursday, and reportedly decided to eventually break away from the agency she heads and form a new independent department.

Dr. Ferrer has faced harsh criticism from some local politicians, business owners, and many of the more than ten million people who live in the nation's most populous county directly affected by her public health orders. She is often mocked for not having a medical degree.

"What I don't want our city to do is to make decisions based upon anything other than what's supported by the research and the people most knowledgeable about this – which I would suggest to you is not Barbara Ferrer," said Lancaster Mayor R. Rex Parris.

The L.A. Times reports that Parris called a special city council meeting and "blamed the city's 77 coronavirus-related deaths on a failure of county leaders to enforce a mask mandate or properly educate people about the pandemic." Lancaster has approximately 158,000 residents and is about a 70-mile drive from L.A.