- Elizabeth Larson
- Posted On
Clearlake City Council approves COVID-19 emergency declaration and eviction hold urgency ordinance
Mayor Russ Cremer and council members Phil Harris, Joyce Overton and Russell Perdock were in the chambers – sitting farther apart than usual from each other and staff – with Vice Mayor Dirk Slooten attending telephonically.
City Hall is closed to the public but community members were able to watch the meeting online.
Last Friday, City Manager Alan Flora – under his authority as the city’s director of emergency services – issued the declaration of a local emergency due to the threat of COVID-19, taking action on the same day the city of Lakeport and county of Lake issued theirs.
As of Thursday, no cases of COVID-19 had been confirmed in Lake County.
On Thursday, Flora issued an amendment, which he said is a small clarification recommended by City Attorney Ryan Jones and Police Chief Andrew White to make sure the city has the most tools available for enforcement of Lake County Public Health Officer Dr. Gary Pace’s recent health orders.
Those orders address school closures and rules for events, as well as a shelter in place order that went into effect at 12 a.m. Thursday. The amendment Flora issued made all of those orders mandatory within the city limits.
The council ratified the emergency declaration unanimously and will review it at its April 2 meeting.
In other action related to COVID-19, Jones brought to the council an urgency ordinance to stop evictions of people impacted by the virus – either medically or financially – for nonpayment of rent.
Jones said a number of jurisdictions around California are doing such eviction hold urgency ordinances, which require a four-fifths vote.
He said it is not rent forgiveness, “It is a postponement during this declaration of emergency.”
Tenants impacted by COVID-19 who can’t pay part or all of their rent must notify their landlord immediately in writing and provide documentation – such as a doctor’s note – to prove the impact. They also are required to pay what they can. During the discussion, Jones said that if their hours have been reduced 10 percent, they should only have a 10-percent decrease in their rent payments.
“This is for residents only,” he said, explaining that some areas are doing it for commercial tenants but there is a reluctance by cities who think it’s too overly broad.
Originally, Jones had proposed that the payment reprieve period last as long as the governor’s COVID-19 emergency declaration, which would then be followed by a 180-day rent payment period.
Council members were concerned about the impact on police. Chief Andrew White said they would let officers know but that, due to the Public Health officer’s orders, they wouldn’t be responding to such calls anyway, and that they would be civil matters referred to the courts.
Councilman Phil Harris wanted to make sure it isn’t abused, so he asked that the language make clear what criteria makes it allowable to postpone rent payment. He said he also is concerned about impacts on property owners who use rentals as income and retirement.
After discussion, staff suggested that the reprieve period would last 60 days – and not wait until the end of the governor’s emergency order – with the period for payment to last 180 days.
Harris moved to adopt the urgency ordinance, which will go into effect immediately as an emergency measure.
Harris added in the proposed amendments the council agreed upon, including that tenants must provide verifiable documentation to the landlord monthly, that the reprieve period for reduced rent payments or nonpayment is 60 days with 180 days after that for tenants to catch up and pay the rent that is due, and that acceptable documentation includes medical diagnosis, proof of loss of work or that the person is required to assist in taking care of somebody diagnosed with COVID-19.
Overton seconded and the council approved it unanimously.
The council agreed to have the urgency ordinance in effect for 45 days, at which time they will review it and consider continuing it. Urgency ordinances can last up to two years if extended by additional council action.
Considering other measures
As the council was meeting, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced a statewide stay at home order, with more than 50 percent of the public in California expected to be infected within the next eight weeks.
Flora said City Hall remains closed and staff is conducting business via email, telephone and remotely. White also had just implemented a new online reporting system, with a similar system to be rolled out to other departments.
Flora asked the community to take the Public Health officer’s shelter in place order seriously, noting that he continues to see a lot of people out and about in the community. He called it “quite alarming” and too close to a normal business day considering the state of emergency the county is in.
“This is an unprecedented burden on all of us, but the only way that this is really worth the sacrifice is if we follow the order, shelter in place, and hopefully eliminate or slow the spread of COVID-19,” he said.
He said the city is working with other county officials on the response. The county is looking at using the old juvenile hall site near Lakeport as a possible quarantine location if needed. Flora said they are starting to make improvements to that facility.
He said the police department and Code Enforcement visited most if not all city businesses on Thursday, educating them about the shelter in place order and giving those not in compliance time to shut down. With very few exceptions, the businesses were responsive.
The city also has deployed its lighted messaging signs in high visibility areas to inform the public about the shelter in place order and that a $500 penalty can be administered to those who are not in compliance, Flora said.
Overton asked about the homeless and how they are being provided a safe place.
Flora said the shelter in place order exempts the homeless population entirely.
While the governor has issued notifications that the state will be providing $150 million to help shelter the homeless, “Unfortunately for communities like ours, I think all of this funding currently is focused on the 13 largest cities in California,” said Flora.
Flora said county officials are trying to find locations where the homeless could go but a place hasn’t yet been identified.
At the end of the meeting, Harris said he is concerned about people trying to come into Lake County in order to be in a lower infection area. He said the county doesn’t have the police, emergency medical services or hospital capacity to deal with a large increase in cases.
Harris said he wanted the city to look at every means available under the constitution to keep out a rapid influx of people into the city, noting the council was elected to protect Clearlake.
He asked for such a discussion to be on a future agenda, adding he could imagine a scenario where there are checkpoints to come into the city.
Perdock asked if Jones could explore the legalities of such action, and Jones said he could, noting that his firm – Jones and Mayer, which serves municipalities throughout the state – is actively following the COVID-19 situation.
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