Councilmember Marqueece Harris-Dawson provides this list of actions across multiple sectors to serve our City.

Businesses

  • Implementing a temporary moratorium on evictions for small businesses under commercial leases, who cannot pay rent due to loss of revenue as a result of the pandemic.
  • Identifying recommendations to reduce or waive gross receipts tax liability , delay business tax collection, waive late penalties and assessments, and waive permit and other business fees.
  • Notifying local businesses of the availability of loans from the federal Small Business Administration.
  • Identifying all economic relief programs made available to the restaurant industry at the Federal, State, and County levels, and to provide recommendations to fund a City program that can compliment those programs and fill any gaps identified.
  • Researching the feasibility of implementing a zero-interest loan program for local businesses comprised of 100 employees or fewer and experiencing a 50% loss in revenue because of COVID-19, and recommendations for initiating a grant program to support small businesses with five employees or fewer that are currently experiencing difficulties paying their employees due to lost revenue from COVID-19.
  • Funding the Small Business Emergency Loan Program in a total of $11,042,000, via the Mayor’s directive, to take immediate action to provide emergency assistance to small businesses.

Health Precautions

  • Working with Metro to install hygiene stations, including hand sanitizers and hand washing stations, at all Metro subway stations.
  • Purchasing, installing, and regularly maintaining 300 hand sanitizing stations at City bus shelters with the highest ridership.

Street Vending

  • Establishing a temporary moratorium on street vending for the length of the current local emergency.
  • Researching how to reimburse all the permit fees to all the street vendors who have applied for them and have paid.

Municipal (City) Buildings

  • Temporarily allowing 24-hour access to all public park restrooms in the City for a 3 month period.
  • Providing routine cleaning and disinfecting services and security at City park restroom facilities as necessary.
  • All City Departments are immediately implementing protocols for the routine cleaning and disinfecting of all frequently touched surfaces.

Senior Citizens

  • Identifying funds to provide routine cleaning and disinfecting services at nursing homes, senior homes, and facilities, senior living communities, senior housing and senior centers, retirement homes and facilities, assisted living facilities, and convalescence homes amongst others in the City.
  • Researching the feasibility of having multipurpose centers to provide their seniors with meals for an entire week, instead of a daily basis (so that they may be delivered weekly instead of daily to reduce the possibility of the transmission of the Coronavirus).
  • Requiring supermarkets to dedicate the first hour of customer business exclusively to senior citizens and the diasbled community.

Employment/Workers

  • Establishing a “just cause termination” policy to protect workers laid off for economic reasons,where workers would be discharged in order of seniority and have a right of recall in order or seniority.
    • Employers will not be able to permanently terminate workers — removing right of recall — without documented just cause.
  • Creating a citywide worker retention policy (retroactive to March 1, 2020), where employers who have new ownership over workplaces after there has been a change in ownership give preference in hiring to the workers who were previously employed at that same worksite, and not terminated for just cause reasons.
  • Requiring every employer to authorize and permit all workers to take a total of at least 15 minute breaks per 4 hours, as paid time so workers can wash their hands and attend to other matters of hygiene.
  • Identifying recommendations to temporarily suspend the 90-day employment requirement before paid sick leave is accrued for new hires.
  • Creating a plan to protect hospitality workers.

Retail

  • Mandating that Grocery Retail, Drug Retail, and Food Delivery employees be allowed time to wash their hands (every 30 minutes) and that employers provide all necessary sanitary cleaners, including, but not limited to, hand sanitizer, disinfecting cleaning products, and protective gear and appropriate training on their proper use.
    • Provide access to coronavirus testing at no expense to workers for Grocery Retail, Drug Retail, and food delivery workers.
    • Permit workers to alter their schedule to address childcare and family needs arising from pandemic without retaliation and with good faith effort to maintain hours.
    • Offer full-time hours to current employees before hiring new employees.

Food Regulations for Delivery Platforms:

  • Requiring that all delivery companies register with the City if they intend to do business within the City.
  • Requiring delivery platforms to provide workers with hand sanitizer, disinfectant cleaning products, and other personal protective equipment as necessary as well as training on how to properly utilize these materials.
  • Prohibiting a delivery platform from altering the terms and conditions of employment for drivers or shoppers who choose to change their working schedule or platforms or refuse orders during the State of Emergency.
  • Requiring that delivery platforms offer drivers and shoppers the option to execute a “non-contact delivery” at any time during the State of Emergency that balances the needs of the aged or disabled.
  • Requiring delivery platforms to maintain minimum liability insurance to cover liabilities arising from a food delivery driver or shopper’s use of a vehicle in connection with a food delivery platform.
  • Requiring that food delivery platforms must ensure compliance with laws regulating the adulteration of food and spread of communicable disease.

Traffic Enforcement

  • Suspending parking enforcement of non-metered time restrictions and rush hour parking restrictions retroactive to Monday, March 16, 2020 until Tuesday, March 31, 2020; this is subject to extension.
  • Waiving all parking citations issued on Monday, March 16, 2020 and those that may be issued through Tuesday, March 31, 2020.

Homelessness

  • Suspending enforcement that requires tents to come down during daytime hours based on the following conditions:the location of the tent does not impede ADA access, or is not within 10 feet of an operable driveway; this will allow for self-quarantining and maintaining social distance.
  • Researching the feasibility and costs of providing installations and services of the following at all major encampments: round-the-clock-port-a-potties, dumpsters and vermin-proof trash cans; weekly shower service; hand-washing stations with soap and water.
  • Researching the feasibility and costs associated with providing 24-hour access to restrooms, with attendants as appropriate, at parks libraries and other government buildings.
  • Identifying vacant or under-used city properties that can be used for emergency housing, and vacant or under-used parking lots and other spaces that could be established as “Emergency Safe Camping Zones,” where unhoused residents could camp at a minimum of 6 feet apart, and be provided with hygiene services.
  • Suspending seizure and confiscation of materials in excess of 60 gallons unless those materials meet the definition of hazardous materials.
  • Immediately accommodating 24-hour access to restrooms, with attendants as appropriate, as parks, libraries, and other government buildings.
  • Identifying how to acquire and site tiny homes, trailers, container homes, or other alternative housing and shelter options to ensure that persons experiencing homelessness will have shelter or housing.

COVID-19 Testing

  • Working with LA County Department of Public Health to ensure that all supplies and instruments associated with COVID-19 testing be reviewed by the FDA.
  • Identifying city-owned buildings , properties, and private labs that could be used as walk-up or drive-up testing sites as COVID-19 test kits become readily available.
  • Identifying City-owned lots that are suitable for drive-through COVID-19 testing .
  • Instructing all Medical Systems, including Kaiser Permanente and Cedar Sinai, to implement drive through testing for patients with COVID-19 symptoms to minimize the exposure of others to the virus.

Housing

  • Implementing a temporary moratorium on evictions and late fees until the emergency declaration is lifted.
  • Requiring all landlords and residential mortgage holders to work out payment plans to allow tenants and homeowners who are suffering economically due to the coronavirus pandemic up to 6 months to fulfill payment obligations; and requiring all residential landlords to extend expiring leases until at least 3 months after the end date of the emergency declaration.
  • Identifying recommendations to create a citywide rental assistance fund for tenants.
  • Calling on banks and financial institutions to suspend mortgage foreclosures and mortgage late fees for the duration of the public health crisis.
  • Calling on private utility companies to suspend late fees and utility shut offs for the duration of the health crisis.

City Budget

  • Transfering $20 million from the Emergency Reserve account to the General City Purposes account under a new line item entitled, “COVID-19 Emergency Response,” to fund the City’s response to COVID-19.
  • Research the pandemic’s short term and long term impacts on the City’s budget, particularly for FY 2019-2020 and FY 2020-2021.

Childcare

  • Researching the possibility of opening designated emergency childcare centers that provide supervision and meals for the children of city employees, first responders, and healthcare workers.

City Contracts

  • Researching the feasibility of canceling City contracts for which non-essential services and/or projects are provided as well as an estimated amount to be garnered by the cancellation of such contracts.

LAX

  • Implementing social distancing procedures for queuing at LAX that requires six-foot distancing between travelers and directing lines into uncrowded areas of the airport in order to help prevent the spread of transmissible diseases

COVID Legislative Package

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