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Recommendation to direct City Manager and City Attorney to provide a report to the City Council on the role of the Council as a legislative body in the implementation and interpretation of the State of California’s health orders in response to COVID-19.
DISCUSSION
The Long Beach City Council has not been involved in many aspects of the current state health order discussions in response to COVID-19. These discussions include, what activities and business sectors to open or close within the approved health orders, what precautions would be reasonable to require for the safe reopening of businesses and recreational activities, what individual mandates might be warranted in light of the health data like social distancing and mask wearing, as well as numerous additional topics related to COVID-19 Health Orders.
The City of Long Beach is subject to the State of California’s ongoing Health Orders related to COVID-19 as well as the State of California’s March 4, 2020 Emergency Declaration. From the beginning of this emergency City of Long Beach legislators have been advised that the implementation of the State Health Orders here in Long Beach was in the exclusive purview of the City’s Health Department. While the Long Beach Council has heeded this advisement, there have been other legislative bodies in the region that have taken legislative action as to some aspects of the state’s health orders, including enacting legislation regarding mask wearing, opening various business sectors in conformity with the state, and other similar measures.
If permitted under the current laws, the Council should be given the opportunity to weigh in and hear public comment on implementation of the health orders, the timing of various orders, the scope of the orders, and other relevant information that will impact our residents and business owners.
With this in mind it is appropriate for the City Council to seek clarification on what our legal role in these discussion can be.
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