At its May 5 meeting, the Long Beach City Council discussed how the City is responding to the coronavirus outbreak, the budget and approved a loan for the Aquarium of the Pacific.
COVID-19
Tom Modica, Long Beach City manager, presented a report regarding the ongoing health crisis and asked for feedback from the council for future steps to fight the coronavirus.
“We are in certainly this city’s largest health crisis that we have seen in decades,” Modica said. “And likely our largest economic challenge as a city since the [Great] Depression.”
Due to the continuing health crisis, the City is reporting a shortfall of $25-41 million for 2020.
The current estimate is between $9-14 million, but is expected to increase when it is updated. 2021 is also expected to see a shortfall.
The City is also expecting a shortfall in the coming years, but there is no current projection.
In her comments, 3rd District Councilmember Suzie Price asked that the city manager determine which projects and areas could be deferred to offset the loss of revenue.
“I think that would allow us to see where we’re eliminating what is not necessary and really being able to focus on the basics,” Price said.
“For me, the priority for the entire city would be what are the basic core services that every resident in the city is entitled to? And I know we’re all going to have different opinions about that.”
In response, 2nd District Councilmember Jeannine Pearce asked for a holistic approach as the City moves forward on determining which services to scale back.
“Right now, is when African-Americans, Pacific Islanders and our seniors are being more affected,” Pearce said. “It’s not the districts that they live in that are paying for it. It’s all of us. It is on all of our shoulders. So, how do we make sure that we have a systematic approach that is thoughtful and forward-thinking?”
In his presentation, Modica explained how the City has ways the officials have responded to the pandemic, such as provide support to the community and health professionals.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, the City has distributed over 1.5 million pieces of personal protection equipment (PPE). This includes 31,000 N-95 masks, 16,000 and over 9,000 cloth/sewn masks.
The City has also set up seven testing sites across Long Beach for residents who may be carriers of the disease or have been exposed to someone who tested positive for the coronavirus.
Modica also discussed reopening the economy and the six guidelines issued by Governor Gavin Newsom.
These steps include:
• The ability to monitor and protect our communities through testing, contact testing, isolating, and supporting those who are positive or exposed.
• The ability to prevent infection in people who are at risk for more severe COVID-19.
• The ability of the hospital and health system to handle surges
• The ability to develop therapeutics to meet the demand.
• The ability for businesses, schools, and childcare facilities to support physical distancing.
• The ability when to reinstitute certain measures, such as the stay-at-home orders, if necessary.
Modica explained that Long Beach is currently in the first stage of the governor’s outline, which focuses on the City’s ability to test for the disease.
Due to the seven testing locations, the City is currently able to provide up to 1000 tests a day for individuals who meet the testing requirements.
The City has also tested a total of 7263 people to date.
However, the City is working to improve contact tracing, which helps medical professionals track the source of infections in a community and where it might have spread.
“When you look at our contact tracing capacity, it really is crucial that you have contact tracing to slow the train of transmission,” Kelly Colopy, the Director of Health and Human Services, said.
Part of improving contact tracing is increasing staff who can handle the capacity.
According to Colopy, the City requires between two or three times the amount of daily cases to have enough staff to ensure proper contact tracing.
“So, if we had 40 new cases in one day, we would need a capacity of 80 to 120 people to respond,” she said.
California officials are also rolling out an app in early May that will help the City with contact tracing. Colopy stated that the City hopes to be able to reach implementation by late May or early June.
To move into phase two, Long Beach will have to work to protect residents who have a higher risk of disease or death.
Part of this includes the City’s efforts in providing shelter and services to residents experiencing homelessness and elderly patients in long-term care facilities.
To help homeless residents, the City has opened shelters that allow for social distancing, along with locations for those who need to quarantine.
Colopy stated that 236 cases were reported in long-term care facilities and that the 30 percent of the coronavirus deaths in Long Beach are from these locations.
Due to the disease, workers are required to wear facemasks and have their temperature taken before entering the building.
Patients also have their temperature taken regularly to track any changes.
Colopy said City is focusing on African American residents who are disproportionately being affected by the spread of COVID-19.
Aquarium
The City Council voted to approve a loan to the Aquarium of the Pacific to pay its rental fees to the City.
Like many businesses, the aquarium is currently closed to the public due to the health order issued by the governor. However, it is virtually offering educational programs on its website.
As a way to offset the loss of revenue, the aquarium requested a loan of $2,154,000 to pay the annual rent due in October to the City of Long Beach.
“It’s neither in the aquarium’s interest nor the city’s interest to have the aquarium default on that rent,” said John Gross, director of Finance Management.
The aquarium hopes to be able to open in the near future and generate enough revenue to meet its October rent. The proposed loan, which will reach maturity in 2032, will allow the aquarium to borrow up to $2.154 million to pay for rent to the City.
