The San Clemente City Council ended the COVID-19 emergency declaration with a 3-2 vote on Aug. 17, nearly 17 months after its implementation.   Mayor Pro Tem Gene James led the motion to end the local emergency ordinance to return the city to a sense of normalcy.  “The Chinese Communist Party unloaded this nightmare on us. Whether they did it through ineptitude or malice, either way they did it and they lied about it. It is going to stick with us for a long time. There is always going to be a different variant on the horizon. We have the obligation to return to some normalcy in our life,” James said during the Aug. 17 council meeting.  Other cities in Orange County have removed their local emergency order including Laguna Woods, Fullerton, Laguna Niguel, and Yorba Lina, among others.  Meanwhile, both the state and county’s emergency order remain in place.  Mayor Kathy Ward and Councilmember Chris Duncan …