Los Angeles Times - 18.03.2020

B4 WEDNESDAY, MARCH 18, 2020 LATIMES.COM

The Los Angeles City

Council voted Tuesday to

temporarily stop enforcing a

law requiring tents to come

down during daytime hours,

saying the change is needed

to limit the spread of the

novel coronavirus.

Councilmen Mike Bonin,

Marqueece Harris-Dawson

and Gil Cedillo said the city

must “urgently reevaluate”

its policies for dealing with

homeless encampments,

given the virus threat.

By ensuring homeless

Angelenos can remain in

their tents, the city will re-

duce their chances of being

around others and contract-

ing the virus, said Bonin,

who represents coastal

neighborhoods.

“The only thing that is

worse than having lots of

people living in encamp-

ments is throwing them out

of encampments and mak-

ing them more vulnerable,”

he said.

Council members also

voted to instruct city agen-

cies to begin providing

hand-washing stations,

portable toilets, dumpsters,

vermin-proof trash cans and

weekly shower service at

“major” homeless encamp-

ments. But they rejected a

plan to stop confiscating the

belongings of homeless An-

gelenos that exceed 60 gal-

lons.

Bonin, Cedillo, Harris-

Dawson and Councilman

Herb Wesson favored such a

move. The council’s other 11

members, led by Council-

man Joe Buscaino, voted to

continue confiscating such

items.

“There are tons of trash

in and around different

parts of the city of Los Ange-

les that I am very concerned

about,” said Buscaino, who

represents a Watts-to-San

Pedro district. “That is add-

ing to filth and disease.”

One business leader ex-

pressed relief that the coun-

cil rejected the plan to stop

confiscating belongings,

saying such a move would

have increased the spread of

rats and disease in homeless

encampments.

“We cannot make this

health emergency any worse

by allowing this accumula-

tion to grow even larger,”

said Estela Lopez, executive

director of the Central City

East Assn., a downtown

business group.

Los Angeles has about

36,000 homeless people,

more than 27,000 of them un-

sheltered, according to the

the Los Angeles Homeless

Services Authority.

Under the city’s current

laws, tents on sidewalks and

in other public areas must

come down between 6 a.m.

and 9 p.m. In many parts of

the city, the rule is not vigor-

ously enforced.

Homeless advocates de-

scribed the council’s deci-

sion to keep tents and

encampments in place

throughout the day as a

much-needed health and

safety measure.

“The worst thing we can

do is push people outside” of

their tents, said Mel Tilleker-

atne, main organizer for

the #SheDoes movement,

which advocates for shelter

for homeless women. “This

is giving them a space to

stay, rather than moving

around in the community.”

Tuesday’s action still

preserves the city’s author-

ity to require homeless resi-

dents to move their tents so

that sanitation crews can

clean sidewalks and remove

hazardous materials, said

Bonin spokesman David

Graham-Caso.

The tent proposal was

one of several emergency

measures discussed at

Tuesday’s council meeting,

the first since City Hall was

closed to the public in an ef-

fort to limit the spread of the

coronavirus.

Council members also

voted to impose new mea-

sures to shield tenants from

evictions and seek new pro-

tections for workers at Los

Angeles International Air-

port and elsewhere.

County officials have not

identified any cases of

COVID-19 among the home-

less so far, said Heidi

Marston, interim head of the

homeless services authority.

LETTING THE homeless stay in their tents, like

these under the 110, lowers their contact with others.

Kent NishimuraLos Angeles Times

To check virus,

L.A. will allow

homeless tents

By David Zahniser,

Emily Alpert Reyes

and Dakota Smith

cause.

Council members also

called for more hygiene sta-

tions with hand sanitizer on

the Metro system, asked

staffers to scout for city

buildings or lots that could

be used as testing sites, and

proposed 24-hour access to

restrooms in public parks.

Another proposed mea-

sure, offered by Councilmen

Curren Price and Herb Wes-

son, would require grocery

stores and food delivery

services to give their em-

ployees time to wash their

hands every half hour and

ensure that there is free test-

ing for the virus for those

employees.

In addition, Council-

woman Monica Rodriguez

called for cracking down on

street vendors who don’t

have health permits selling

food. Rodriguez had initially

floated a temporary morato-

rium on all street vending,

arguing that it would help

protect Angelenos from

crowds surrounding ven-

dors during the pandemic,

but adjusted her proposal

during the meeting.

Council members put

forward the new measures

and proposals at a Tuesday

meeting that was shaped by

special efforts to try to

ensure social distancing

between attendees. The

council has pared down the

number of meetings sched-

uled in coming weeks and

imposed new measures to

limit the number of people

gathered in the council

chamber.

Martinez had urged An-

gelenos to watch the meet-

hours of paid leave — six
days — per year.
The move is meant to
prevent people who have
fallen ill from continuing
to go to work during the co-
ronavirus pandemic, put-
ting more people at risk of in-
fection. As of Tuesday after-
noon, more than 470 people
had been confirmed to have
contracted COVID-19 in Cal-
ifornia, leading to 12 deaths
in the state.
The crisis has thrown a
spotlight on the vast differ-
ences in the benefits avail-
able to employees depend-
ing on where they live and for
whom they work. The coun-
cil voted unanimously to
back Martinez’s proposal to
boost sick leave, directing
city staffers to come up with
recommendations that
would come back for their
approval.
It was one of dozens of
new proposals that council
members introduced Tues-
day in reaction to the
COVID-19 pandemic: Los
Angeles also moved to loos-
en a city rule to help home-
less people endure the crisis,
temporarily allowing tents
to stay up during the day.
Several council members
also proposed an eviction
moratorium that could be
tighter than that announced
by Mayor Eric Garcetti,
which must return to the
council for final approval.
Council members also in-
troduced new proposals to
set up loans and grants for
businesses affected by the
pandemic and to explore
other business assistance

such as easing taxes and

fees. Early in the meeting,

restaurant owner Tricia La

Belle addressed the council

and said that the shutdown

of dine-in service had put

her in financial jeopardy.

“I can’t breathe at this

moment. My staff is terri-

fied. They’re calling me ev-

ery day, asking me for money

that I can’t provide because

there is no income coming

into my restaurant,” La

Belle said, complaining that

many customers were too

afraid even to order delivery.

“We’re on the verge of an-

archy and putting more peo-

ple on our streets,” La Belle

said. “Please help us.”

One proposal would

create a “just cause termina-

tion” law that would ensure

that any workers who were

laid off for economic reasons

are discharged in the order

of seniority. They would also

have recall rights based on

seniority. Employers would

be barred from permanently

terminating workers — ban-

ning them from being

recalled — without just

ing remotely on television or

streaming video and submit

comments electronically.

Members of the public were

not allowed inside the coun-

cil chambers, but a tent was

erected outside City Hall

with a microphone for peo-

ple who wanted to address

the council in person.

Several speakers com-

plained about the setup, ar-

guing it was unfair to the

public.

“Keeping the public out-

side of a public meeting in

52-degree weather with no

heaters and no bathrooms is

not a pandemic response,

it’s oppression!” Sabrina

Johnson, a member of the

homeless advocacy group

KTown for All, told the coun-

cil from under the tent on

Tuesday.

Doug Haines, who sits on

two neighborhood councils

in Hollywood, was among

the people who waited out-

side City Hall in the chilly

weather to speak Tuesday,

sitting on plastic chairs that

were placed roughly six feet

apart.

Haines said he wanted

the city to suspend the ap-

proval of all real estate devel-

opment projects that do not

otherwise require a city

hearing until all neighbor-

hood councils are permitted

to meet again and review

them.

“I’m afraid we are going

to get a wave of approvals

without public comment,”

Haines said.

Times staff writers Brittny

Mejia and Liam Dillon

contributed to this report.

WILSON VANEGA,who has a broken leg, sits near a food truck outside County-USC Medical Center. L.A.
council members introduced new proposals to explore business assistance such as easing taxes and fees.

Francine OrrLos Angeles Times

Dozens of proposals aim

to ease pandemic woes

[City Council,from B1]

‘We are in

uncharted waters,

and it is up to us

to make sure we

are doing our

duty as public

servants.’

— Nury Martinez,

City Council president

speaking in Spanish. “I’m
going to stay in the car. Let’s
see if there’s a chance in the
afternoon.”
As people were slowly let
in at 8:54 a.m., some seniors
who had congregated near
the front managed to
squeeze in. “Excuse me, sir!
There’s a line! Come on!”
yelled the same woman near
the front. She looked to the
employee overseeing the
line, who shrugged. “It’s a
disappointment,” Carol said
as she sat on a planter in
front of the store as other
people trickled past her.
“They should’ve stuck to the
agreement.”
Carol, who just had knee
surgery, watched as her hus-
band headed to the end of
the line. Too late, she fig-
ured.
On Sunday, Gov. Gavin
Newsom urged people 65
and older and those with
chronic health conditions to
isolate themselves from oth-
ers and stay home. The
move reflected intensifying
efforts to limit the spread of
the coronavirus and the toll
it could take, especially on a
demographic that is espe-
cially vulnerable.
At the Northgate Gon-
zález Market in Long Beach,
shoppers also waited in line
in hopes of grabbing items
on their grocery list. The
Latino market is one grocery

store chain that imple-

mented a new policy where

senior citizens, including

people with disabilities and

pregnant women, can shop

from 7 to 8 a.m. before it

opens to the general public.

“This is very important

for seniors who can’t move

around easily,” Alex Rojas,

45, said in Spanish as he

waited in line. The Hunting-

ton Beach resident was on

the hunt for powdered milk

and eggs. He said stores

should also include preg-

nant mothers within these

special hours.

Silvia Quintero Artel-

lano, 62, had just left El Su-

per on Long Beach Boule-

vard because the line was

too long and estimated it’d

take her two hours just to get

inside. The Long Beach

grandmother said she was

looking for masa or crema —

anything she could get her

hands on to cook for her fam-

ily.

Grocery Outlet in Alta-

dena will also have special

hours every Thursday for

seniors from 7 to 8 a.m. Store

owner Michell Guajardo

said employees will also be

on site to help make grocery

runs for immunocompro-

mised shoppers while they

wait in their vehicles.

At the Trader Joe’s, cus-

tomers were given a limit

when purchasing some

items: two dozen eggs, a gal-

lon of milk and two proteins

from the meat department,

an employee announced.

“I feel for others. Every-

one is making a sacrifice,”

said Marissa Flores, 28, of

Monrovia, who was the first

in line. She lived nearby and

was able to make it to the

front of the line by 7 a.m.

A TV reporter who was on

hand Tuesday morning at

the store told the Los Ange-

les Times that, earlier that

morning, two employees had

told her they would be hold-

ing special shopping hours

for senior citizens. A Trader

Joe’s employee later told

The Times that that was not

the case.

Trader Joe’s spokeswom-

an Kenya Friend-Daniel said

in an email Tuesday after-

noon that the grocery store

chain, which is head-

quartered in Monrovia,

hadn’t implemented com-

pany-wide special shopping

hours but each store is doing

what they feel is best for

shoppers.

“Our focus continues to

be on best serving all of our

customers, from providing a

safe and clean shopping en-

vironment, to doing every-

thing we can to help ensure

customers need special as-

sistance,” she said. “Or other

accommodations, and in

those cases we will do what

we always do, with care and

integrity.”

Carol said she’d been told

by an employee the previous

day to come by in the morn-

ing bright and early for the

special time slot.

Seniors waiting in line

said their children told them

about the special hours and

they’d read about it online

too.

Fred Nava, 67, of San Ga-

briel and his neighbor Don

Busapathamrong, 54, were

among the first shoppers to

get in and out of the store

Tuesday morning.

The two arrived at 8:

a.m. and, managing to blend

in, headed straight inside.

“I just walked right up

and got sucked right in,”

Nava said.

Nava said he invited

Busapathamrong to join

him the day before. Busap-

athamrong, an ER nurse,

said they tried to keep an eye

on websites offering special

shopping hours.

Nava said older people

needed the extra help.

“Seniors can’t move fast

enough and there’s limited

handicap parking,” the re-

tired auto insurance em-

ployee said.

Seniors don’t always get special shopping hours

SENIORS ARRIVE at Trader Joe’s in Monrovia early Tuesday believing it would

open early for them. Some said their children told them about the special hours.

Al SeibLos Angeles Times

[Seniors, from B1]