Palmdale also spurns health department
City decries county restaurant limits
PALMDALE — The City Council declared its support for small businesses and restaurants in the city, opposing the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health order eliminating outdoor dining and declaring no confidence in Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer.
The City Council voted 4-1 at Tuesday’s meeting, with Councilman Juan Carrillo dissenting.
Carrillo sought to separate the no confidence vote from the other motion.
“I feel the pain again but I find it conflicting personally to vote no confidence on somebody that is trying to protect us,” Carrillo said.
Mayor Steve Hofbauer and other members of the City Council received multiple emails in support of the proposed action.
Ferrer implemented a three-week closure of in-person dining at county restaurants that started the day before Thanksgiving in response to spiking COVID-19 cases countywide. The county had previously limited restaurants to outdoor seating.
That order is suspended until the expiration of a revised temporary order effective Saturday and continuing through Dec. 27. County officials issued the revised temporary order to slow the current high rates of COVID-19 community transmission and hospitalizations, according the county.
Restaurants are to remain closed for indoor and outdoor in-person onsite dining until further notice.
“I’ve met with some of the people that have been impacted. The pain is palpable. It is so heartrending to see the impact that this is having on people who struggle during normal times much less during this pandemic,” Mayor Pro Tem Richard Loa said at Tuesday’s meeting prior to the county issuing the revised order.
Loa said studies show that outside dining contributes a minute amount of COVID-19 cases.
Carrillo said he supports the city’s restaurants and small businesses.
“Everybody practically has been affected by this pandemic but I have a little conflict with the way the resolution is being proposed,” Carrillo said.
Carrillo supported council action to make Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security, or CARES, Act funds available for local businesses and residents. The city also streamlined the process for local restaurants to set up for outdoor dining before it was no longer allowed by the county and the state.
“I do feel the pain because we all are going through this pandemic and we all have been affected one way or another,” Carrillo said, adding two family members have been infected with the virus.
Carrillo added he values those who want to protect us.
Hofbauer said the resolution expresses the council’s support for local small businesses, particularly the city’s restaurants, who have been adversely impacted by the often-arbitrary orders that have closed their operations on short notice and caused severe financial and irreparable harm.
“This has been going on for over eight months now and we’ve just not seen any rationale or scientific justification for closing them,” Hofbauer said. “How do you arbitrarily pick certain sectors of the economy to remain open and just close others?”
In addition, the mayor said building occupancy loads have not been justified. Ventilation was supposed to be the key, but the county hasn’t provided details on what the appropriate ventilation factor should be.
“People are losing their livelihoods, their life savings and their retirements over this,” Hofbauer said.
He added: “We get contradictory information when we ask. The recent uptick in COVID-19 cases is something we take very seriously, but as the court recently ruled, the evidence was not there for the county to force these closures.”
Councilman Austin Bishop said he wants to make sure the city is moving in a forward direction and trying to strengthen the city’s relationship with the county rather than risk weakening it by a vote of no confidence.
“That’s my concern is that whatever vote we take tonight gets us closer to some real solutions with the county,” Bishop said. “And that people understand that this vote isn’t us starting a health department because that’s not what it is.”
Loa said the vote sends a message that the county needs to act more responsibly when it comes to the impact on the residents of the individual cities.
Councilwoman Laura Bettencourt sought to clarify to the people who sent the letters that the proposed vote does not give the city the authority to allow restaurants to reopen.
Bettencourt also defended Ferrer, saying she does not make unilateral decisions.
“She has an entire staff of people working for her,” Bettencourt said. “She’s kind of the face of the organization.”