Hello and welcome to Day 5 of the Governor Gavin Newsom's stay-at-home order. Resplendent in a t-shirt, pajama bottoms, and slippers, "The People's Business" is coming to you straight from the dining room table. We're hanging in there -- how about you?

Tomorrow, the City Council will hold a special meeting to address the financial impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the most at-risk San Diegans. Here's the agenda.

Eviction moratorium

Specifically, the Council will vote on Council President Georgette Gómez's proposal for a temporary moratorium on evictions of residents who cannot pay rent and businesses that cannot make their lease payments due to financial hardship caused by the coronavirus outbreak. The emergency ordinance was prepared by the City Attorney at the direction of the City Council as part of their unanimous approval of a series of resolutions on March 17.

The proposed eviction moratorium includes documentation requirements of tenants seeking relief, who have up to six months from the effective date of the ordinance (March 25) to pay any unpaid rent. Landlords may seek payment of rent but may not evict tenants who qualify for relief. Landlords would not charge late fees. 

As part of the action proposed, the Council will ask City staff to work with banks and lenders to halt foreclosures of properties whose owners are unable to make mortgage payments, and aggressively seek local, state, and federal economic aid packages to provide relief to landlords.

Under the ordinance, the San Diego Housing Commission and its nonprofit affiliate Housing Development Partners are prohibited from evicting tenants who reside in any of the 3,732 Commission-controlled affordable apartments.

Small Business Relief Fund

In addition, the City’s Economic Development Department will present to Council a proposal to establish a Small Business Relief Fund to support San Diego businesses affected by the COVID-19 crisis. The relief fund would be created by repurposing nearly $4 million in existing grant money.

Under the proposal, grants and loans from the relief fund would range from $10,000 to $20,000. To be eligible, businesses must:

• Employ less than 100 full-time equivalent people as of Feb. 28, 2020.
• Have a City of San Diego Business Tax Certificate.
• Provide documentation that shows the business has been operational for at least six months.
• Provide proof of economic hardship due to COVID-19.
• Not have engaged in any illegal activity per local, state, or federal regulations.

Public participation in the meeting

Until further notice, City Council meetings will be conducted pursuant to the provisions of California Executive Order 29-20, which suspends certain requirements of the Ralph M. Brown Act. Most, if not all, of the Council members will participate via teleconference. 

No members public will be in attendance. However, alternatives to in-person attendance for viewing and participating in Council meetings will be provided. Members of the public may submit their comments on agendized items using this public comment form. Attachments to comments may be sent it to cityclerk@sandiego.gov; they will be distributed to the Council members. Comments submitted using the public comment form (which will be read into the record) are limited to 200 words.

The public may view the meetings on public television (within the City of San Diego only) on CityTV Channel 24 for Cox Communications and Time Warner Cable or Channel 99 for AT&T, or view the meetings online using live streaming at this link.  

Here is the city's COVID-19 info page.

Be safe, everyone!

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