As the world deals with a new deadly virus invisible to the naked eye and highly contagious, the City Council of Cathedral City is well aware that families are juggling many new obstacles around their daily lives, such as school closures and related childcare, isolation within our homes, threats to our health and the need for social distancing, work slowdowns and even job losses. These are not easy times and the unknowns about this virus bring added uncertainty.
Please be assured that your city council, city manager, and city departments are actively engaged in monitoring all directives from the federal, state, and county levels. Our first priority and commitment to you is protecting the health and safety of our residents and visitors. It is imperative that all of us work together, even when difficult decision must be made, in order to slow or hopefully stop the CoronaVirus. Our leading public health experts know that efforts we make today will help us in the long run tomorrow. Other countries that waited too long to act saw significant increases in infections and fatalities. It is the hope of your government that we can maintain the virus to its lowest levels so that our public health system is not inundated and overburdened with those in need.
Currently, there are 490 people in California who have tested positive for the CoronaVirus and six deaths. More than 11,700 people are self-monitoring who returned to the United States through LAX and SFO. There are 13 people in the Coachella Valley that have tested positive for the CoronaVirus. However, we believe that once testing becomes more readily available this week and the number of people infected are properly counted, we will see a spike in the total number of cases in California and here in the Coachella Valley.
This afternoon, I called for an Emergency Meeting of the City Council to declare a local emergency in order to take steps necessary to help protect the health and safety of our residents. Below are the measures the City Council took during this emergency meeting:
- To Protect our Community:
- We will follow all orders or directives from Riverside County Health and Emergency Management departments; and California Health and Emergency Management departments.
- No park reservation permits will be issued until further notice.
- Cross coverage arrangements have been developed with Palm Springs and Riverside County for Dispatch coverage and existing mutual aid agreements for Police and Fire are available.
- To Protect our Employees and those in contact with our staff&*:
- The permit counter is closed. Staff will issue permits and review simple plans through the glass window. Plan review and items taking a longer review time will be taken through the window and handled separately.
- Police and Fire records will be issued remotely only.
- No live scans will be completed at Police until further notice.
- Internal meetings will be done via teleconference unless a critical need exists that dictates otherwise.
- Employees (other than sworn police and fire and dispatch personnel) who need to shelter in place at home will be allowed to do so and to use accrued leave time.
- Employees who are new to the organization and don’t have adequate leave in their banks will be allowed to go negative on accruals so they can continue to get paid and receive medical benefits and use future leave accruals to cover such deficits.
- Employees required to quarantine may use accrued leave hours to do so.
*These will all be specified in written Administrative policies to be issued shortly
- To protect the fiscal health of the City government
- All hiring is frozen except the Police Chief position and Dispatchers
- All travel is prohibited
- All departments are to cease any optional expenditures
- Council and Commission Meetings
- Teleconference attendance will be available
- Public Comment electronically will be available
- Agendas will be limited to essential items
