How you holding up, San Diego? 

Last week, in response to the COVID-19 outbreak, the City Council cancelled all of its scheduled policy committee meetings, as well as the meetings of the full Council that were scheduled for yesterday and today. However, Mayor Kevin Faulconer declared a state of emergency in the City of San Diego, which must be ratified by the City Council within seven days in order to be extended for 30 days. So, Council President Georgette Gómez has scheduled an emergency Council meeting for today at 2:30 p.m. Here's the agenda.

Emergency Meeting

In addition to asking her colleagues to ratify the emergency declaration, Council President Gómez will propose a comprehensive package of measures to help lessen the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the local economy and San Diego's most at-risk residents. The package includes:

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  A request that the Mayor and City Attorney, with assistance from the San Diego Housing Commission (SDHC), evaluate and present proposals to the City Council to implement a temporary moratorium on residential evictions due to non-payment of rent resulting from a loss of wages caused by the outbreak of COVID-19, which may include presentation of an emergency ordinance to City Council.

  
  


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  A request that the SDHC evaluate and present proposals to the City Council or San Diego Housing Authority to implement a temporary moratorium on evictions and mortgage foreclosures for property owned by the Housing Authority or by the SDHC due to non-payment of rent or mortgages resulting from a loss of wages caused by the outbreak of COVID-19.

  
  


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  A proposed resolution requesting the San Diego Superior Court to temporarily suspend all pending residential eviction cases and reject new filings of residential eviction cases during the pendency of state of emergency related to the outbreak of COVID-19.

  
  


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  A proposed resolution requesting the San Diego County Sheriff suspend service of unlawful-detainer actions and enforcement of evictions within the City of San Diego due to non-payment of rent resulting from a loss of wages caused by the outbreak of COVID-19.

  
  


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  A proposed resolution calling upon the Congressional delegation and federal Administration to direct the Department of Homeland Security to suspend immigration enforcement operations, including interior checkpoints in sensitive locations including hospitals, clinics, and other healthcare facilities.

  
  


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  A request that the Mayor work with San Diego Gas & Electric and any other utility provider to evaluate potential relief from late fees and utility shutoffs due to non-payment resulting from a loss of wages caused by the outbreak of COVID-19.

  
  


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  A request that the Mayor and the Economic Development Department evaluate temporary relief funding for workers within the City of San Diego who were laid off or furloughed as a result of the outbreak of COVID-19 to help those workers pay rent and/or utility bills.

  
  


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  A request that the Mayor and the City Attorney evaluate and present proposals to the City Council to implement a temporary moratorium on evictions for small businesses under commercial leases, who cannot pay rent due to loss of revenue as a result of COVID-19, which may include presentation of an emergency ordinance to City Council.

  
  


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  A request that the Mayor and the City’s Economic Development Department evaluate and report back to City Council on a strategy with potential options to work with banks and lenders to halt mortgage payments or foreclosures for individuals and landlords who have suffered severe loss of wages and income due to the outbreak of COVID-19.

  
  


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  A request that the City’s lntergovernmental Relations staff temporarily prioritize requests for emergency funding and support from the state and federal governments as the overriding No. 1 citywide priority.

  
  


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  A request that the Mayor enforce the Earned Sick Leave and Minimum Wage Ordinance.

  
  


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  A request that the Mayor evaluate and report back to City Council on delaying collection and enforcement of the City’s Business Tax Certificate fees.

  
  


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  A request to suspend the Vehicle Habitation Ordinance and the 72-hour Parking Ordinance for the duration of the emergency.

  
  


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  And, finally, a request that the Mayor, working with the local hotel association, labor partners, and homelessness service providers, to open hotel rooms including provider services to unsheltered individuals and families.

  
  

Rather than attend in person, the public is strongly encouraged to view the meeting on public television or view the meeting online.

Members of the public wishing to attend will be directed to Golden Hall to view the meeting via television monitor. Seating for the public will be limited to whatever social-gathering protocols are in effect at the time of the meeting. Those wishing to speak will have the opportunity to do so during each agendized item via speaker phone .

Mayor's Executive Orders

In addition to issuing a declaration of a state of emergency, the Mayor has issued executive orders to the following effects:

• Closure of all municipal libraries, rec centers, and pools.


• Closure of all municipal buildings to the general public.


• Prohibition on all public and private gatherings of 50 or more people, and strong discouragement of non-essential gatherings of any size.


• Closure of all bars, nightclubs, and adult entertainment establishments.


• Prohibition on restaurants serving food to be eaten on the premises. Takeout, drive-through, and delivery service may continue, but social distancing must be practiced.


• Exemption for trucks delivering food to stores from existing city limits on delivery time and hours.


• Continuation of essential city services such as police, fire, water, wastewater, and trash.


• Moratorium on shutoffs of utilities provided by the City and possible development of a program for payment deferrals.


• Limitation of parking enforcement and issuance of citations to holiday and Sunday enforcement regulations, including no longer enforcing parking meters, yellow commercial zones, short-term green zones and one- and two-hour parking zones.

Here is the city's COVID-19 info page.

Hang in there, everyone! Be kind to one another. Help out however you can. As Ringo Starr says every chance he gets, "Peace and love!"

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