San Diego City Council unanimously voted for Mayor Kevin Faulconer’s declaration of a state of emergency while taking steps to aid those most affected by the COVID-19 pandemic by temporarily instituting a moratorium forbidding residential and commercial tenants from being evicted or having their utilities cut off.
The eviction moratorium, proposed by Council President Georgette Gomez, was overwhelmingly opposed by a litany of landlords. Among 200 emails read by the city clerk into the record, one landlord after another complained vociferously that banning all evictions was a “half solution” depriving them of their livelihoods. They complained that a blanket eviction moratorium would constitute “an open door for all tenants to not pay their rent.”
Faulconer addressed the council at the outset of the special emergency meeting on St. Patrick’s Day.
“Today all bars and nightclubs are closed,” the mayor said. “Dining in will also not be allowed for restaurants, which will only be allowed to provide pick-up and delivery service. We have also closed all city public buildings.”
Faulconer noted the City’s top priority will be to “continue to provide public services by police and fire-rescue including water, trash, and recycling. We’re also continuing a moratorium on water shutoff for late payments.”
Added Faulconer, “We want to stop the spread of the virus, but we need to act responsibly in promoting the public good in our community by providing economic relief, care and compassion. As San Diegans, we’ll get through this by working together.”
The majority of the nine City Council representatives spoke by phone from self-quarantine during the emergency meeting.
“This is definitely unprecedented times and we need to ratify the mayor’s declaration of a state of emergency to provide the power for the city to access all the resources available to us,” said Gomez. “Now is the time to stand together and take care of each other.”
Council president pro tem Barbara Bry of District 1 thanked first responders and others for “ensuring the safety of our residents by being at the forefront of keeping us safe. I would like to thank grocery stores for working overtime and for allowing seniors-only shopping.”
City chief operations officer Kris Michell noted that the mayor’s ratified declaration of emergency is “good for a 30-day period but needs to be ratified again every 30 days.”
New regulations adopted by the city included a temporary halt to enforcement of the vehicle habitation ordinance forbidding people to live out of their vehicles in residential neighborhoods.