The Seal Beach City Council on Monday, March 28, formally, rescinded several pandemic-related proclamations as no longer needed. Technically, the local emergency declaration remains in place.
Officials had already decided to resume in-person meetings.
This was a Consent Calendar item. Nothing was pulled from the Consent Calendar, so the council approved everything on the “calendar” unanimously and without discussion.
Some of the proclamations that are now considered “obsolete,” according to the city attorney’s staff report, include the closure of parking lots during Easter weekend 2020; an April 2020 mask mandate for individuals in the city; the “Beach in Motion” plan that opened the beaches Monday to Thursday and the Seal Beach Tennis Center for limited hours on weekdays.
“On March 13, 2020 the City Manager, in her capacity as the Director of Emergency Services, proclaimed a local state of emergency in the City of Seal Beach due to the ongoing coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, which the City Council ratified on March 19, 2020,” wrote City Attorney Craig Steele in his staff report.
“Similarly, on March 4, 2020, the Governor of the State of California issued a proclamation of a state of emergency in the State, and on March 2, 2020, the County of Orange ratified the County Health Officer’s declaration of a health emergency in the County,” Steele wrote.
“For more than two years, the State, County and City have implemented rules and regulations to protect life and property as affected by the COVID-19 emergency,” Steele wrote.
“As COVID-19 pandemic conditions are beginning to improve, it is in the best interest of the public to align City orders with state and County orders and terminate those orders that are no longer necessary to protect public health and safety,” Steele wrote.
“In early April 2021, Governor Newsom announced the state’s intention to move beyond the Blueprint for a Safer Economy and fully reopen the California Economy on June 15, 2021,” Steele wrote.
“Reopening the state’s economy on June 15 was dependent upon the state meeting specific prerequisites, including vaccine supply being sufficient for Californians 16 years and older who wish to be inoculated and the state’s hospitalization rate remaining stable and low,” Steele wrote.
“On June 11, 2021, Governor Newsom issued Executive Order Nos. N-07-21 and N-08-21 providing that effective June 15, 2021, the State of California ended its Blueprint for a Safer Economy program, and allowing all sectors, except mega-events, defined as having 5,000 indoor or 10,000 outdoor attendees, to return to normal business operations, with no capacity limits or social distancing required,” Steele wrote.
“As of March 1, 2022, [California Department of Public Health] guidelines only require masks in specified high-risk environments including on public transportation and in healthcare,” Steele wrote.
“Additionally, the CDPH no longer mandates, but strongly recommends that all persons, regardless of vaccine status, continue indoor masking,” Steele wrote.
Assistant City Manager Patrick Gallegos recently told the Sun that masks would not be required, but strongly recommended, in the council chambers.
“For the time being, the City Manager recommends that the Local Emergency Proclamation remain in effect as the pandemic continues to evolve,” Steele wrote.
“In the meantime, staff recommends that the City Council take this “clean-up” action to rescind Supplemental Orders that are obsolete, as noted above,” Steele wrote.
“During subsequent periodic reviews, the City Council can determine the appropriate time to lift the local emergency,” Steele wrote.
The council is scheduled to meet again next Monday, April 11.
