STOCKTON, Calif. — "Stay at home" was the commonly heard phrase Tuesday morning during a virtual town hall as Stockton city officials held a Q&A about the city's response to the coronavirus [COVID-19] pandemic.
Throughout the town hall meeting, Mayor Michael Tubbs and City Manager Harry Black reminded residents to shelter in place and avoid all non-essential activities.
"This is not a hoax," Mayor Tubbs said. "This is not a game. This is not a drill."
With 141 confirmed cases of coronavirus in San Joaquin County and 7 deaths as of March 31, city officials were adamant that Stockton residents try and flatten the curve.
In this effort, many resources are being devoted to homelessness.
$1.2 million has already been allocated to Stockton's emergency response fund in order to address three key aspects in the community: shelter, food, and hygiene, according to Janice Miller, assistant director of the Stockton Economic Development Department.
The city is expecting to receive an additional $1 million from the State of California to help with homelessness.
In addressing this issue, city officials also discussed forced evictions.
"Rent must still be paid," Mayor Tubbs said, but he reiterated that, under Governor Gavin Newsom's state-wide moratorium, there will be no evictions for nonpaying renters who have been affected by the coronavirus.
The city is working on "payment plans" between landlords and tenants to try and reduce the hardship of renters, while still honoring the income of property owners.
However, Mayor Tubbs pointed out that tenants must take action before rent is due, and they must prove to their landlord that they have been impacted by COVID-19.
This creates some problems for those who don't read the fine print.
Renters must send notice to their landlords no more than seven days after rent is due that they cannot make payment due to the coronavirus. Tenants may then have to prove that their income has been affected by the COVID-19 outbreak.
Additionally, tenants still have to repay full rent in a "timely manner" and, if they fail to do so, landlords will maintain the right to evict renters after the moratorium is lifted.
For many landlords, a non-paying tenant means a loss of livelihood.
During the Q&A portion of the town hall, one landlord asked about what he or she could do about a tenant who had not paid rent since December. The landlord had been already attempting to evict the individual before the moratorium was put in place.
Mayor Tubbs responded that if the non-payment was not related to COVID-19, then the landlord could still move forward with eviction.
Paying rent is also an issue for small businesses, which have taken a hard hit as many have been forced to close. As such, some non-essential businesses have stayed open.
With reports flooding Stockton's non-emergency hotline, Police Chief Eric Jones outlined the department's response to reports of non-essential businesses still operating under the stay-at-home order.
Chief Jones said that staff is making contact on those reports. The first phase of the operation–informing those businesses that they must close for the sake of public health–has been working well, he said.
For those who want to make a report, calling Stockton's non-emergency hotline at (209) 937-8495 or filling an AskStockton request form are both effective ways to do so.
As far as Stockton Fire Department's response to the pandemic, Chief Richard Edwards said they've been preparing for an event like this since 9/11 by stockpiling equipment.
An Emergency Operations Center has already been put in place, and the county has a surge plan to distribute 750 additional hospital beds across San Joaquin County. 600 have already been set up.
John Alita, director of community services, reminded people of all the materials that the Stockton-San Joaquin County Public Library has online. Books and movies are free to stream with a library card, and it can also offer online tutoring services.
Starting April 1, there will also be a daily schedule of programming through the library's website.
Since schools will not be reopening in the near future, daily family activities, programming for children, and general morale-boosting activities will be the highlight.
In his closing remarks, Mayor Tubbs encouraged everyone to once again, "stay at home." Acknowledging that people would have to make sacrifices during this time, Mayor Tubbs asked residents to focus on what matters: family, self, and health.
"We will emerge from this together," Mayor Tubbs said.
Original story:
City officials in Stockton are hosting a virtual town hall meeting at 11 a.m. Tuesday where they are expected to discuss protections against commercial and residential evictions in the city as closures due to coronavirus (COVID-19) drag on.
Among items expected to be discussed are actions to protect residents and businesses, including a moratorium on evictions, according to a city spokesperson.
Mayor Michael Tubbs and City Manager Harry Black are hosting the town hall meeting.
During a time of uncertainty, there’s one big question Tubbs tells ABC10 wants to answer.
"The most common question is, 'Where can I go for help?" he said.
As the number of coronavirus cases and deaths in Stockton continues to rise, he and Black say they want to make sure everyone in the city knows how they can get the help they need.
"From renters' protection to eviction moratoriums to support for our small business owners," Tubbs said.
According to Tubbs, officials will share ways that businesses and residents can get help through the Stockton’s $1.2 million Coronavirus Emergency Response Fund. Both Tubbs and Black will give instructions on how the application works.
"As we develop our money we allocated last week, we [the city] expect to see a lot of demand in those services," he explained.
City officials will also be answering questions submitted by viewers online. Click here to watch the meeting (streaming from 11 a.m. to 12 p.m.) and/or to submit your own questions.
ABC10’s Carlos Herrera is covering this event. He will have more on Extra Shot at 11 a.m.
Read more about coronavirus from ABC10
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