Mayor Garcetti Urges Angelenos To Shop Local This Weekend And Not Crowd Trails

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti used today's briefing to provide more details on the amended safer-at-home order that he announced yesterday. He cautioned all Angelenos not to crowd newly opened trails, trailhead parks and golf courses this weekend, saying if it becomes dangerous, the city will close them back down.

"Some parking lots will be closed and capacity popular trails will be limited, so that we can make sure that we aren't breaking the physical distancing requirements, still mandated by our county," he said. "If you're going to go to a park, don't everybody go for Mother's Day. If you've been staying with your mother, you've seen each other a lot. You don't need to necessarily do that on Sunday."

The mayor also encouraged Angelenos to support local retail shops that have recently reopened, by ordering online things like flowers, books and music by phone for curbside pick up. "Let's get our businesses up and going," he said.

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In addition, Garcetti announced today that the Department of Water and Power will not terminate service for non-payment for the rest of 2020. "We will not shut people's water and power off. Now, let me be clear if you can pay your bill, you absolutely should, as your payments help us provide reliable service across the city. But if you're facing financial hardship and you can't afford to make every bill on time, you won't have to worry whether the water will stay on."

Additional details on reopening:

• Golf courses will be open by reservation only. As of this morning, reservations were 80% filled. There will also be fewer tee times and a limit of one person per golf cart. Foam fillers have been added to every hole so that players won't have to touch the flag.
• Griffith Observatory will remain closed (including parking there)
• Metro announced today that all bus and train riders will be required to wear a mask starting May 11

In response to a question about how officials will evaluate the public health impact of these changes, the mayor said that he agrees with Dr. Ferrer and the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health that we won't be able to see an impact for approximately three to six weeks. After that time period has passed, officials will determine whether or not we can move forward to the next phase...or if we need to scale back.

Garcetti added:

• Today the mayor signed a law that prohibits landlords from using coercion, intimidation or fraud to take their renter's stimulus checks.
• Tenants have can sue their landlord if they violate any of the city's renter protections.
• City Council President Nury Martinez said that any renters who cannot pay their rent during this time, can submit their account to the city in writing within seven days, to avoid eviction. Renters will then have 12 months to pay that rent back.
• Martinez added that yesterday the city council voted to freeze rents on all RSO units until a year after the emergency "is lifted." She said that covers about 75% of the rental market in L.A.

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