Community Meeting Summary & Slides
On April 23, District 5 had its first virtual meeting. At this time, it’s even more important that we communicate and help each other during this time. I have a combination of news both about regular city work & issues and about our new reality and how we will be preparing for the next year.
This just in, SoCal Gas Cares program is offering 20% off your natural gas bill if you have recently lost your job.
Before we discuss COVID, let’s talk about the question I receive the most.
Is our Residential Road Resurfacing on schedule?
We have a 7-year schedule to resurface our roads. This year’s roads are listed on //Emdee.org/when-will-the-roads-be-repaved/. This year’s roads are scheduled to be completed by July. We were delayed a bit by the rains we received this year but you may have seen the prep work that has been happening around the city. The sidewalk, concrete work, and handicap ramps have been re-done in preparation for the street resurfacing. The contractor has completed the first element of work, the Infiltration Wells.
Concrete and pavement improvements are scheduled to start, District 5 should begin around June 1 to mid-July. Residents will be notified of parking disruptions during working days on their streets.
The Novel Coronavirus has been a mental, social and economic toll on our lives. The Safer at Home order is simply not sustainable for the year and a half we will have to navigate this virus.
First, let me say thank you! Thank you to all who have observed safer at home guidelines. We appear to be flattening the curve but we are not on the other side of the curve yet.
But we need to get back to work and school. How do we do that when this isn’t a vaccine nor do we have herd immunity. Plus how do we minimize or prevent surges as we move towards herd immunity?
The LAEDC has shared some data regarding industries that can be ranked based on Physical Proximity. We can look at the businesses in our city and determine if we can create social distancing or preventative measures by re-design or by new procedures. Then we can expand as businesses are able to adjust to the new normal.
We can view this exercise as an opportunity to be creative, to remedy problems, and to be more profitable.
With precautions and design changes, we can add businesses keeping the Physical Proximity Chart in mind. We will keep expanding our businesses but we will maintain mask requirements and social distancing for quite a while and some estimates are for about a year.
These challenges can also bring about opportunities. Now is the time to be creative, to remedy previous challenges, and to look for ways to ease burdens.
The State has outlined 6 steps before the State will relax its Stay at Home Orders.
- We must be able to monitor and protect communities through testing, tracking of contacts, and isolating and supporting those who are positive or exposed to the virus.
- We need to have the ability to prevent infection in people who are at higher risk.
- Hospitals and health systems must be able to handle surges of COVID-19 patients.
- We must be able to develop therapeutics to meet demand.
- Businesses, schools, and child-care facilities need to be able to support physical distancing.
- We have to be able to determine when to re-institute certain measures, such as stay-at-home orders, if necessary.
What will the new normal be? Expanded testing, wearing masks, new procedures, and newly designed layouts plus businesses and governments will behave new sanitation rules.
Click here to view the slides from the meeting.
Here is video: