CC RES 2020-072 RESOLUTION NO. 2020-72
A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF
RANCHO PALOS VERDES, CALIFORNIA, OPPOSING THE LOS
ANGELES COUNTY PUBLIC HEALTH OFFICER ORDER
PROHIBITING OUTDOOR DINING OPERATIONS WITHIN THE
COUNTY OF LOS ANGELES AND THE CITY OF RANCHO
PALOS VERDES.
WHEREAS, on March 4, 2020, California Governor Gavin Newsom
proclaimed a state of emergency due to the spread of COVID-19 in California;
WHEREAS, following the March 4, 2020 declaration of a state of
emergency, Governor Newsom and the Los Angeles County Health Officer have
issued orders limiting social contact and activities; requiring persons to wear face
coverings; and restricting the operation of services and businesses, including but
not limited to restaurants;
WHEREAS, all businesses located in the County of Los Angeles Public
Health Jurisdiction except cities which have their own Public Health Department,
such as Long Beach and Pasadena, must follow the Los Angeles County Health
Officer Order which may be stricter than the State's Public Health Order, and such
businesses are required to comply with whichever Order is stricter;
WHEREAS, on November 17, 2020, the County of Los Angeles Public
Health established thresholds for additional actions if the five-day average of new
COVID-19 positive cases reached 4,000 or more or hospitalizations exceeded
1,750 per day. If either number was met then the Los County Health Officer would
issue an Order to prohibit outdoor and indoor dining at restaurants, breweries,
wineries and bars, and these businesses would only be able to offer takeout, pick-
up and delivery;
WHEREAS, on November 22, 2020, the County of Los Angeles Public
Health announced the five-day average of new cases had increased to more than
4,000 cases;
WHEREAS, in response to the five-day average of new cases exceeding
the 4,000 new cases of COVID-19 the County of Los Angeles Public Health issued
a new Health Officer Order to prohibit in-person dining (including outdoor dining)
at restaurants, breweries, wineries and bars which went into effect on Wednesday,
November 25, 2020 at 10:00 p.m., for a minimum of three weeks;
WHEREAS, the County of Los Angeles Public Health has stated the
restaurant industry has achieved 95 percent compliance with all of the Los Angeles
County Public Health Officer guidelines and the restaurant industry has expended
millions of dollars to comply safely with County Health orders by constructing
outdoor patios and procuring Personal Protective Equipment;
WHEREAS, the Los Angeles Economic Development Corporation
("LAEDC") predicts approximately 700,000 jobs in the food industry would be lost
by the new Los Angeles County Public Health Officer Order and that 75 percent of
these job losses would be those earning $50,000 or less;
WHEREAS, the Los Angeles County Health Officer Order will negatively
impact the economic viability of restaurants, bars, wineries and breweries and the
loss of revenue generation for these businesses, could result in the closure of
businesses in Rancho Palos Verdes and the loss of numerous jobs in our
community
WHEREAS, the modified Los Angeles County Health Officer Order will
negatively impact the vitality of employees, patrons, vendors, and others
connected with the restaurants in the City of Rancho Palos Verdes and the
imposition of the order will likely have a permanent negative effect on the
restaurants in the City of Rancho Palos Verdes who will not have the ability to
sustain their current levels of revenue to stay in business causing multiple vacant
properties and other hardships in the City.
WHEREAS, there is no imminent federal relief on the horizon for small
businesses or the unemployed which will mitigate the demise of an industry that
employs among the largest segments of communities of color;
WHEREAS, the current rise in cases is cause for concern, and likely
intervention, the County of Los Angeles Public Health should seek other options
to tighten restrictions so as to focus on specific areas of the County rather than to
seek a one size fits all approach;
WHEREAS, the County of Los Angeles Public Health should reserve the
tightest restrictions for activities data proves are leading causes of outbreaks rather
than assuming the current increase in COVID-19 cases are tied to outdoor dining;
WHEREAS, as the Los Angeles Superior Court recently concluded [T]he
Restaurant Closure Order is an unmistakable example of the Politician's Fallacy:
"1. We must do something. 2. This is something. 3. Therefore, we must do this."
The actual scientific evidence . . . shows that transmission of COVID in an outdoor
dining scenario is negligible . . . If closing an entire industry without evidence of
any significant quantum of disease spread is not arbitrary, what is?;
WHEREAS, the County of Los Angeles Public Health Department has
provided neither contact tracing data nor scientific evidence in support of its
blanket outdoor dining prohibition.
NOW, THEREFORE, the City Council of the City of Rancho Palos
Verdes DOES HEREBY FIND, DETERMINE and RESOLVE as follows:
Section 1. The Council is unanimous in its opposition to the prohibition of
outdoor dining operations in the City of Rancho Palos Verdes which is neither
based on actual data nor science, and has communicated its concerns regarding
the same in a letter to the Board of Supervisors and the County Health Officer,
attached hereto as Exhibit "A," and incorporated herein.
Resolution No 2020-72
Page 2 of 3
Section 2. The Council respectfully requests that the Los Angeles County
Board of Supervisors and County Health Officer immediately modify the Los
Angeles County Public Health Order to focus on implementing restrictions based
on data and localized to the area of the outbreak.
Section 3. The City of Rancho Palos Verdes respectfully requests that all
future Los Angeles County Public Health Officer Orders be based on actual data
related to a particular industry, sector, or area and not be applied unilaterally to
every jurisdiction in Los Angeles County.
Section 4. If warranted by the data, the Council would be supportive of a
Health Officer order which would increase the distance between restaurant tables
to eight feet; require outdoor dining to occur by reservation only, as appropriate;
and to create a safer social distancing model for patrons waiting to either pick up
their food order or for their table to become available.
Section 5. The Council is supportive of increasing the usage of the public
right of way in a safe manner to accommodate the greater social distancing of both
the patrons and the tables.
Section 6. The City Clerk shall certify to the adoption of this resolution and
shall cause this resolution and her certification to be entered in the Book of
Resolutions of the Council of this City.
PASSED, APPROVED and ADOPTED this 15th day of December 2020.
(kAxs?,s '
Mayo\
Attest:
dell4ACl/614at
1)-efAbV
City Clerk
STATE OF CALIFORNIA )
COUNTY OF LOS ANGELES ) ss
CITY OF RANCHO PALOS VERDES )
I, Emily Colborn, City Clerk of the City of Rancho Palos Verdes, hereby
certify that the above Resolution No. 2020-72 was duly and regularly passed and
adopted by the said City Council at a regular meeting thereof held on December
15, 2020.
aeija4j/
ity Clerk
Resolution No. 2020-72
Page 3 of 3
f V S j,,,rYi v"vX'G}vt>m+
9 '106,
}o
lR'CGAlf7AA14'U S$'ti+ , : a- cs,c f,�,i"
ik RANCHO PALS VERDES 7
`
December 7, 2020
The Honorable Kathryn Barger and Members of the Board of Supervisors
Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors
500 W. Temple Street
Los Angeles,CA 90012
Dear Honorable Chair Barger and Members of the Board of Supervisors,
We, the four cities on the Palos Verdes Peninsula, firmly joined together by a common cause,are writing to you
today to request you to follow science and,more importantly.data and statistics to make decisions about COVID-
19 across our Los Angeles County(County). We support our colleagues throughout 88 cities of the County who
oppose your decision. In strong terms, we also support our South Bay COG's position, which in a letter on
December 1, 2020, highlighted the importance of a decentralized approach to the pandemic response. Before
many cities and regions consider forming their own health departments,we ask for the restructuring of the County
}lealth Department's governance to fit the mission described on its web site.
Los Angeles County, the size of Delaware and Rhode Island combined, is the largest populated County in the
United States, and larger in population than 41 individual states. As such, a "one size fits all" approach to
policymaking is simply not workable and has become untenable.
As you know, the County of Los Angeles Public Health's web site states, "Due to the large size of LA.County
(4,300 square miles), it has been divided into eight geographic areas (Service Planning Areas ((SPA)). These
distinct regions allow the Department of Public Health to develop and provide more relevant public health and
clinical services targeted to the specific health needs of the residents in these different areas." We agree and urge
the Department of Public Health to begin implementing COVID-19 responses by area.
We respectfully request that each district collects precise data for its respective district to"provide more relevant
public health and clinical services targeted to the specific health needs of the residents in these different areas."
This precision already in place is all we ask to govern and serve our communities better.
The undersigned are elected representatives of jurisdictions located in "District 8(South Bay)." Our geographic,
demographic, and pandemic realities are substantially different than other districts in this vast and beautiful
County.The County's decisions ignore these realities.To be specific and to use the County data, here is how our
jurisdictions compare to others.
The City of Torrance prepared the chart below for the majority of jurisdictions in District 8. This chart makes it
abundantly clear our realities compared to those of the County at large.
Resolution No 2020-72
Exhibit A
Page 1 of 4
°4,Crty ci Tera::ce COS1D-19 Status Dashboard
Area G Cases: ; Cases Reported:
:.::.................'..... .... f ..x,}}mow` :.
MYOFHArifkOgn - ''','lIQt'^'� ..f•A.taF,-_.e.`s�..
fatat:rt tGpam,rr:k7.:�.::.: •. c - ^ 'Ya•:�, c�.�• .
.., C'^t
. ,.« ��� 1,870 7 5
GueRyxrt.wl k : ..� ,.
CIYOF:AWN.:AWN... h^"y ,. Torrance
.
F✓,at::.1 Rent,P4 17 _ µ rr N a' >
Cr1'Rah Arta Pei., ..r y , y
t• iTRN * '<
V '-A
01 L
C'reaf PALOS VfaLES as-Arts a!
GtesR ural:tt �9:R 1)•�i!t7.',
Rahf^n tetrCnrt:I
: LI
.164;520 :..7438
{..7Y..Of lG Mr,.rie,Yi,e, E A Cot rt, t
cai+'.RM7<t.37: - itl Y•-.' ,co,,,,
?iut:i..e CCK.-c:1t ...
t,t,,,t.0.)rul,O n^K,,.. _ _ _
Caw FE.g^rt.C:E=�! . � �° �*�;_10.1N .. ....
G?Y Of ROLL YM HMS o f ..
-
C�.Aast]s<.?4,,rtaC)Kt:l)`:.,1.:.
.: v a
,i
"a .r� f -1<2i1.-4:94.
'..
fst
! iro Cc1a
GO
:,ofV411,ox (.. '1:
4 " 5
1
,,r,0,1,C.INC PAO MAITS - _ '
l > 5t lit
wt4:7: a.dFIfs
''C>.J+a,e s<♦ i�.v 4).Ytt S::.
-c n o6:1;v74 ,,, ?3:370;V, 266,69e_
17t7Jt1sx
USA ' USA
a .:
To further illustrate our point, we highlight a few specific comparisons in District 8 from the beginning of the
pandemic to November 22. This data presumably became the basis to shut all outdoor dining in the County
without regard to the science and data shown on the chart below. While this data represented your decision point
last week,our current data as of yesterday does not show much change at all.Our constituents want to know why
their excellent work of reasonably controlling the pandemic by following mitigation measures of wearing a mask,
socially distancing, and their businesses investing in protective equipment and diligent sanitation is being
punished.
Covid-19 Cases Per Thousand People By City
sr
LA Co unty
'1H
1)
Rai"4i s)"rs,,tY
34
11
)1;
?-3
<i< �sd'0
71
7 2?
a. <1
" 6f
E,M ...
Js `1
0 l r " <<
r 'Cy/
.ted""'"" .,4
12
.3 10 " „,,,,,,,,,,-...6.'` Palos Verdes Estates
�,d,',yF'h,...,..,„..,,,,,,.,---:,,,,,,,,—,,- <...._ 1t<Y'!<13J�t'1A}�3'W E.}'le<”:
: /
",pie�O . h w,..—
1 ,,,,,,,,f,,-.....,,,,„.„.7:±7 ,y
es
Cf.'.Z e t`` �t o+ " �* ,er a a4 .7 ..) `< :G `1 7" d aK f +f• .% :a , "l ,, .P' P
Resolution No 2020-72
Exhibit A
Page 2 of 4
New Daily Cases Indexed to Population in South Bay Cities
7-day average
S
R
g '4
5, r,)
J ,�
Vy d�v � r _ � � y/
{ 101,
14. �. >. fir r � 3�
„,.,
1,.
.....1... ,
44,,,,,,.,,-,
. ,
s ,4
,/ :(5- 4 ,„ , ..e
Y ,,,, g Y`•
, ‘i-oi, ,,,.:,:1,0 s, , s,4, , , n
f,
„, ,,.,,,A
:,„,,,,,,,.„iik Awcil,rAl igiv,,,,,,,,,., ylii4i,„,,,,o,,,,csieill P't-, •
{
,. ,... ..,.,-, N .816, , ,, .-,.,, ,.. ,.../- 1 ir t s x ;. .n x^ £^�„�' r s; ''
�, y -� � '” ' 's 7 � a� c Xs, �� „ . >, e ., L`
i < .9 \\ r , f d' >x 7 r ,1 .0 ,N tt i. •N ✓• ✓' u5 -75 <' , j
y 2,
6......0..,JSC:tiotf nw.asw(£`(€`,, ,t....Z,e!\h —`<l!t,'!,aloS!r£i '}{.,<>>l
®1.,f'vtG>,,,NU,-.les-..----,,,,<„,•,...4 ki<.S <....<....,ea.V1',.y,, tae.,L a"".
Every death is tragic;however,our death rates,compared to other deaths from various causes,are also statistically
negligible. For example, the COVID-19 attributed death rate per capita on the Palos Verdes Peninsula is
extremely low: Rancho Palos Verdes is 0.03%,Palos Verdes Estates is 0.01%,Rolling Hills Estates is 0.04%,
111 and Rolling,Hills is 0.00%.
Our hospitalization rates are also different. We do not suffer from the lack of beds or ICU capacity in our world-
, class hospitals like Torrance Memorial, Providence Little Company of Mary,etc.The image below for the South
Bay region (District 8) is currently reporting nearly two new cases per 100 hospital beds, which is among the
lowest of the region. In the summer surge,the South Bay region number was closer to three.
,>.r.::,w fiv:: ..'7 w,-7--a 7--,an,r >:.wc-. --,-iisw,,. --,•w is r-,---,,---;-:-,--,',7",', ':-",7,,,:'""""'""'",'7'`'',,c<.v,aw.<.'4 .' i w a ,a}
... f"I)-yav rr.,vn:.- .,:.;:....-v:: .v:vv..:::.: ,x..::w:.:,-'•• .:.•:n.i1'.-.,: ..vu{}r.V...:!?.`',---,•,. r.i
l.ln },.,..�
', a� ... r .-fir'- ,... > , r
i.3 ;' -' •-------4. - --, . . ' ------t--------t
k
......
.. .. ' _
,
1,1 1
r
-------1- :
j
A, 8 south. E3ay _,.,_ ts__,„
E -
, :
' S
•
, 1
...u. ,
S
j ' 1 :
:
` t
,
,•.
1 j ' tC''''',:,4,---7:ili-----, 14' s',..;,;74 f'.>'''; ';'+', ,,,2,.',',.,,''''''''n',,,-,. b , , i.0 i i
i v
,
IP
' *. r te %
I
Resolution No 2020-72
Exhibit A
Page 3 of 4
We expect policy decisions affecting our community to be based on our jurisdictions' statistics rather than the
County's collective data. We, as a vast County, must reverse this course. Every signatory to this letter respects
you all We have a tradition of working with you in contract cities as well as independent cities. We also
understand your concerns. By our requests, we do not question your heart. We suggest that we need to learn to
live with this deadly virus rather than hide from it indefinitely. We seek collaboration as opposed to competition
with your policy.
The County's actions are devastating our communities, especially our communities who need the most
employment and economic stability. Our small businesses are our backbone. While disproportionately allowing
large companies to operate,you have made it impossible for small businesses, in this case,mostly restaurants,to
continue their existence. Our chefs, servers,'kitchen staff depend on their NN ages and tips to feed their families.
To the extent that funds arc available, we urge you to work with the Governor to use some of the unexpected tax
proceeds of$26 billion to provide relief to small businesses and restaurants that are struggling to survive.
Our local jurisdictions,especially those that are"low,low"property tax cities.rely on sales tax revenue to provide
local services. Some of these services under the contracting model are provided by the County for a fee. While
the County takes close to 25%of the property tax revenue(not counting County related special districts revenues
for another 25 '0), most of our"low, low" property tax cities receive less than 7%. The County's actions are also
devastating to our cities. Unfortunately, there is no data to support your last decision countywide, much less in
our jurisdictions We have seen no evidence that outdoor dining is the cause of any COVID case surge in various
parts of the County.The City of Pasadena chose science and data over your decision. We in District 8 ask for the
same treatment as`Pasadena,which is located in the'same County.
While we disagree with the state's "one sizes fits all" approach, we understand that the County is currently
operating under the state's Stay-at-Home Order for the Southern California Region due to ICU bed capacity.
When the state's Order is lifted, we respectfully ask that you act on our request for a regional approach using
regional data. In particular, we expect the re-opening of our outdoor dining facilities as soon as possible. Failing
to do so is causing some cities to explore constituting their own health departments.
Respectful ly,
David McGowan, Eric Alegria
City of Palos Verdes Estates,Mayor City of Rancho Palos Verdes,Mayor
Jeff Pieper Velveth Schmitz
City of Rolling Hills,Mayor City of Rolling Hills Estates,Mayor
I
Resolution No 2020-72
Exhibit A
Page 4 of 4