Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti specified today that local governments have the right to decide how and when to begin reopening efforts, regardless of what the state allows. "The state permits certain things, but it doesn't prescribe them," he said, referencing Gov. Gavin Newsom's announcement that some changes to stay-at-home policies would be announced this Friday.
The mayor said that he supports reopening some low-risk places, like hiking trails and flower shops (for Mother's Day). But he made it clear that the city will be extremely cautious when making these decisions and will act independently of any statewide regulation changes.
"I hope later this week, that city's leaders (and I say that plurally, for many cities around here), as well as our county leaders, can stand together as we did at the outset of this and talk about how we'll take those steps together."
The mayor also made clear that "we cannot go too fast." He acknowledged that there are some people who are frustrated and want businesses to reopen now; but he said polls show that the majority of Americans are more concerned that opening up too fast could launch a second wave of the virus.
"You see, if we go too fast, and we see cases go up and we see people begin to die in bigger numbers, and we even see our hospital system overwhelmed, that's worse than going forward the right way, just a little bit slower. And that's going to guide me every single day."
In addition to trails and other "low risk" spaces, the mayor said he supports opening some city streets for walking and biking.
He also said he has given permission to the Flower District downtown, to prepare to reopen in time for Mother's Day, explaining that the city would use a similar strategy with wholesale flower shops as they do with farmers markets.
He added that the area will be strictly monitored by the public health department (inspections will be done as well) and that if social distancing is not followed, they will re-evaluate.
This reopening policy will only apply to wholesale flower vendors, which are technically under the umbrella of agricultural businesses like farmers markets. The mayor said he would follow the county's guidelines on retail businesses moving forward.
Curbside retail, he said, is something the city may allow next week, or more likely, the following week.
"I'm sorry, we're not going to be moving on those things this Friday," Garcetti said.
"We've talked to big retailers, we've been talking to outdoor and indoor malls. We have to get this right. Look at other states who said, 'Open movie theaters or restaurants.' And the great majority of movie theaters and restaurants are saying, 'No thank you, we're not ready to do that yet.'"
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