Merced Times

City of Calabasas issued the following announcement on Dec 6.

This is my final letter to our community as Mayor.  Next Wednesday, December 9th, I will be re sworn-in as one of your City Councilmembers.  I have appreciated this weekly opportunity to share updates, not just on COVID-19, but also to discuss other issues happening in our community.  I have always believed local government should be accessible to the people it serves, and I hope I have been successful in delivering that during my term as Mayor.

On the COVID front, yesterday the Governor announced what the plans look like for a temporary regional stay-at-home order.  A stay-at-home order for three weeks will go into effect in regions where hospital ICU capacity falls below 15%.  In other words, the order takes hold if hospitals have used up 85% or more of their ICU beds.   That said, the expectation is that Southern California could hit that threshold in the next few days or weeks, but only time will tell.  Unfortunately, if this temporary regional stay-at-home order goes into effect, the following sectors will be forced to close:

• bars, wineries, personal services, hair salons/barber shop, and all hotels for non-essential travel.

Not everything will have to close during a temporary regional stay-at-home order. The following sectors will be permitted to stay open:

• Schools that have received a waiver from LA County Public Health

• Retail can operate at 20%

• Essential services 

• Restaurants for take-out and delivery 

If this stay-at-home order happens, this will just be continued devastation for our businesses and their employees.  We will do our best to connect you to resources through the County and State to assist during these times.  Some current resources are listed at https://covid19.ca.gov/business-and-employers/.

What a year this has been for all of us.  We are experiencing something we could not have imagined in our lifetime – a global pandemic that would essentially shut down our city and beyond and keep most of our children home from school nine months later.  There were many sleepless nights thinking about how we would help our residents and businesses weather this storm.  I am so proud of how our community responded  - immediately signing up to deliver groceries to individuals who couldn’t leave their homes and residents making masks for others.   As a City, we transitioned immediately to providing online courses for our seniors and fitness classes for the community.  More than 3,000 people now routinely use our online classes.  We were committed to finding a way to keep a sense of community and I believe we succeeded.  We celebrated the 4th of July and Halloween COVID style with City events.  We even opened the Wild Walnut Dog Park as an additional recreation amenity for those needing an escape from home. 

As the pandemic continued, I spoke weekly to the 88 mayors in LA County to find out what was working in their communities and what was not.  We immediately realized how important testing was and we worked hard to make sure that we had adequate testing sites in Calabasas and close to us in Woodland Hills.  I am excited to announce that starting next Tuesday December 8th, an additional drive-thru COVID testing site will take place at the Agoura Hills/Calabasas Community Center.  This testing site is being run through Universal Diagnostic Laboratories and is not run by LA County or the City of Calabasas.  There is a fee -- which must be paid before receiving the test and you will be given a receipt to submit to your insurance.  Reservations and payments can be made at www.UDlab.com .  You can also drive-up without an appointment but you may have a longer wait.  It will be open 8:00am - 6:00pm on Tuesdays, Saturdays and Sundays.  If the demand is there, additional days will be added.  Results will take anywhere from 15 minutes to 24 hours, depending on the type of test you order.  The cost for the test is the following:

Antibody - $69

Antigen rapid test -$89

PCR- $110

We were one of the first communities to adopt a mask order.  This might not be popular with everyone, but I believe it has kept our numbers lower in our community.   I participated in multiple calls per week with LA County Public Health and advocated on behalf of our community for what was working and what was not.  We developed a small business grant program to help our local businesses and will continue to do what we can to support them.  

As our community was adapting to its new normal and businesses were just starting to re-open, our focus shifted to the nation’s response to the killing of George Floyd and the community protests that followed.  As a City we responded by hosting a forum called A Conversation on Race and Change.  I heard from many residents in our community that they wanted more from our City and this is something we are committed to working on.  As a City, we want all of our residents to feel equally a part of our community. 

Shutting down a city, reopening a city, and then having to re-issue closure orders is not something you ever imagine when you are sworn-in as Mayor.   When I became Mayor, I was focused on working to improve wireless technology, enhance our response to disaster preparedness, work on our budget, and continue to advocate for Calabasas at the County and State level.  Please know these priorities never changed.  Progress was made on each issue, and I will continue this work on the Council. 

I know we are beginning to see a light at the end of the COVID tunnel, but these next few weeks are going to be the hardest on the pandemic front.  This week, we saw the highest numbers ever reported. We need to continue wearing a mask and keeping our distance.  

I know the time will come soon when we can gather again, when our restaurants and retail stores will be filled to capacity, and all of our children will be back in school. Council meetings will be in person and the City will host events with thousands of people.  I look forward to that day when we can greet each other without a mask and physical distance.  But before that becomes a reality, we must remain strong until a vaccine can be widely distributed.  It is literally a matter of weeks, not years.  Let’s hang on.  We can do this.

Before I sign off, I want to extend my gratitude to the great residents and businesses in our community.  I have seen the best of people during these hardest times.  

Please stay safe and healthy!

Alicia

Original source can be found here.