COVID-19 leads West Hollywood to declare state of emergency

West Hollywood city council voted tonight to declare a local emergency to help the city better respond to the coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19).

A note to the municipal council
from city manager Paul Arevalo notes that an emergency exists when conditions
are beyond the control of services, personnel, equipment and facilities
this city. This resolution is an acknowledgment of the need for
forces of other political subdivisions to fight and respond to the novel
coronavirus (COVID-19).

The city's ability to
mobilize local resources, coordinate the interagency response, accelerate
buying vital supplies, using self-help and enabling future
reimbursement by state and federal governments, are essential for
successfully respond to COVID-19, the memo says.

Governor Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency on March 4 in response to the increased spread of COVID-19. The Los Angeles County Supervisory Board and the Department of Public Health have also declared a public and local health emergency in response to the increased spread of COVID-19 across the country and in Los Angeles County. The county has ordered the closure of all bars and gymnasiums and allows restaurants and cafes to remain open only to provide take-out or take-out delivery services. Earlier today, the Department of Public Health released a list of cities and communities in Los Angeles County where coronavirus infections have been confirmed, showing that five of 94 county cases are associated with West Hollywood.

The resolution adopted by the municipal council will be in force for 60 days, at which date it can decide whether to extend it or not. In addition to endorsing the county's decision to close bars, nightclubs, gymnasiums, theaters and other public spaces, the council also last night prohibited sports and other group activities in city parks. He also agreed to prohibit landlords from evicting tenants who are unable to pay their rent due to the coronavirus, which could result from loss of income due to loss of A job, with the obligation to stay at home in isolation, to be infected with the virus or to have to leave work to take care of a member of the family infected with the virus or a child whose school has closed. Another reason that would protect the tenant would be the burden of excessive medical expenses. Tenants would have six months after the end of the emergency period to pay their past due rent.

The resolution also:

• Authorizes the city manager, social service staff and the sheriff's department to house the homeless who cannot take care of themselves to prevent the spread of the virus among the homeless population.
• Establishes an emergency fund of up to $ 50,000 to assist residents and employees of West Hollywood who are in need due to the loss of jobs and income and create an opportunity for residents and businesses to donate to help community members who are affected by business closings and layoffs.
• Authorizes the city manager to consider temporarily reducing certain taxes for businesses if he agrees not to lay off employees.
• Request that the city create volunteer opportunities for community members who are able to help deliver meals and other items to those in need of help.
• Asks the city to coordinate with the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center to determine if it needs volunteers and to develop programs to train people to help.
• Authorizes the City Manager to approve the use of public or private property for temporary emergency medical facilities.
• Authorize the City Manager to provide appropriate assistance to local grocery stores facing panic purchases in response to fears of COVI D-19 and to consider reserved access for the elderly during certain hours of the morning in grocery stores and markets.
• Consider providing guidelines to limit public access to city hall and allow eligible employees to work remotely, and allocate a technology allowance of up to $ 150,000 to the city manager to provide remote access to voters and employees. The city has already announced the closure of the city hall.

City Council members made a number of suggestions and expressed a number of concerns regarding the impact of the coronavirus at tonight's meeting, which Mayor John D'Amico attended remotely because he did not was not feeling well. Council member Lauren Meister asked the city to consider helping employees of the forced businesses close to negotiate the unemployment claim process. She also said residents have expressed concern about being approached by people trying to get their signatures on petitions to present city's cannabis law review proposals on the bulletin. vote. Council member John Heilman requested that the city work harder to keep the Russian-speaking community informed of the virus problem and to ensure that all relevant posters are in multiple languages. Council member John Duran asked if the sheriff's deputies could use more power to remove the homeless from the city's sidewalks. And Councilor Lindsey Horvath asked if there was a way for the city to limit the number of non-residents entering West Hollywood.

Although the adoption of the emergency measure gives city manager Paul Arevalo greater authority to deal with coronavirus problems, the city has already taken a number of measures to combat the spread of the virus. On Thursday, the city canceled or postponed all non-essential city events and meetings until June 30 as part of an effort to create social distancing which, according to public health experts, is essential to prevent people from spreading the virus. He also closed the town hall to the public and suspends all transactions in person. All public buildings and facilities in the city will be closed. City parks will remain open, but members of the public should follow social distance guidelines of at least six feet apart, stay at home if they don't feel well, wash their hands often and cover any coughs or sneezes. City hallremain accessible to businesses and essential services, transactions to be carried out by telephone at (323) 848-6400 and via the City's website atwww.weho.org.

City hall staff were also
working in the past three weeks with federal, state and county agencies,
other local governments and local non-profit organizations and businesses and healthcare
to respond to the constantly evolving COVID-19 crisis.

The first priority is
the health and well-being of the community and employees and, simultaneously, monitoring
the economic impacts on our local economy and the planning of recovery efforts,
said a statement from the town hall.

The efforts of city staff have
included weekly calls with leaders from other cities on the Westside of Los
Angel County and regular communication with local business leaders and
schools and non-profit organizations associated with the city.

The city also works with
its contracted social service providers like Jewish Family Services which
providing services to the elderly, the homeless and the disabled,

The city has set up
subcommittees to find ways to deal with the economic impacts that can
coming weeks as businesses are forced to shut down and help those who work
the city. Since travel, tourism, nightlife and entertainment are
contributing to the economy of the city, the coronavirus should have a
particularly significant impact on West Hollywood, hotels already seeing room
booking cancellations and closing of bars and restaurants. This is likely to
leaving large numbers of people at least temporarily unemployed.

The city has also explored ways to keep residents informed of what's going on. He will post updates on his website at www.weho.org/coronavirus and encourages residents to follow @WeHoCity on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram and activate notifications for up-to-date information. For email notifications, residents can subscribe to city email notifications on www.weho.org/email. Visit the city's calendar of events and meetings at www.weho.org/calendar and news archive on www.weho.org/news.

Other websites that the City of West Hollywood recommends residents to visit for updates and information on the current number of COVID-19 cases in the United States and Los Angeles County include the Department of Health Los Angeles County Public Service. www.publichealth.lacounty.gov/media/Coronavirus and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html

The city also recalls
residents they can watch meetings of city council and other councils and
order meetings whose agenda contains essentials on television or
online. They are accessible on the following platforms:

The city has also recently launched an online form that residents can use to submit comments on city council agenda items that will be read aloud at council meetings. This shape can be viewed here. (These comments must be submitted before 8 p.m. on the evening of the meeting). City Hall is working to make the comment system available to those following the planning commission and other essential meetings.