Tuesday, April 28, 2020
Member/Alternates Only Meeting
Virtual meeting via ZOOM
Minutes
Present: Deborah Barmack, Peter Barmack, Carole Beswick, Mike Burrows, Chris Carrillo, Mark Cloud, Ken Coate, LaDonna DiCamillo, Kevin Dyerly, Louis Goodwin, Otis Greer, Fran Inman, Mark Kaenel, Pam Langford, Bill Lemann, Dan Little, P.T. McEwen, John Mirau, John Mura, Dan Murphy, Vikki Ostermann, Bansree Parikh, Catherine Pritchett, Brian Reider, Thomas Rice, Dan Roberts, Dan Schenkel, Kristine Scott, Paul Shimoff, Sol Teh, Lupe Valdez, Pete Van Helden, David Van Voorhis and Ray Wolfe.
Announcements: 1) Staff would like to highlight member organizations on the Inland Action web site that are helping the community during the pandemic. Please send a photo and information to Carole. 2) Members and Alternates were asked to go to the Inland Action web site to review and verify their information in the Member Directory. Head shots for the directory were requested. 3) Upcoming meetings include Sheriff John McMahon (5/5/20) discussing law enforcement and the effects of the Covid-19 virus and Congressman Pete Aguilar (5/12/20) updating us on the federal perspective.
M/S/P: Minutes from April 21, 2020.
Louis Goodwin, Chair presiding.
Supervisor Curt Hagman, Chairman, San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors discussed the current state of the pandemic in the county and the County COVID-19 Recovery Coalition.
County index tracking indicates that the spread of the virus is going down, and County supplies are increasing. Testing is now up to 18,579 which is up 5.7% from the previous day. Local testing sites are provided on both the San Bernardino County web site (http://www.sbcounty.gov/Main/Default.aspx ) and the Counties COVID-19 web site (http://sbcovid19.com/). In addition to testing residents who are experiencing at least one COVID-19 symptom (fever, cough or shortness of breath), beginning Thursday, April 30, people age 65 and older as well as healthcare or public safety workers can get tested at all testing sites regardless of symptoms. Testing will continue to increase.
A State and Local Health Order has been placed for residents to stay at home except to get food, care for a relative or friend, get necessary health care, or go to an essential job. People who must leave their home for an essential outing, should wear a face covering that covers your nose and mouth and keep at least 6 feet of distance from other people. There are no changes in the Health Order regarding restrictions still in place on non-essential businesses. Essential businesses can remain open with restrictions. Guidelines for what is considered an essential or non-essential business, as well as details on what comprises passive recreation can be found on the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) on the County’ COVID-19 website.
Non-Essential businesses remain closed but on April 25, the County re-opened County-operated parks and lakes and is allowing the opening of city-owned and private parks, lakes, trails, and golf courses on a limited scale for passive recreation. Dialog with business is the key to reopening. The goal is to pool like businesses to get what they need and use best practices. Many golf courses, for example, had already addressed the COVID-19 issues creating their own guidelines which the County reviewed and adopted. The Supervisor speculated that we may experience more openings in mid-May.
It is unlikely that we can move any faster than the State as the Governor prevails, and the most restrictive policies override all others. The County can, however, be preparing for recovery and re-opening with the County COVID-19 Recovery Coalition. The Coalition members are initially from the private sector but will broaden to others. Leadership will be provided by the county’s Economic Development & Workforce Development departments along with the Community Development and Housing Agency. The following make up the sectors in the Coalition: transportation/logistics, healthcare, the faith community, retail, manufacturing, government, education, hospitality and tourism. Office areas are typically easier to reopen than restaurants and bars but there are a multitude of variations for businesses even those in the same sector and many voices need to be heard. A conference with the retail sector will be held tomorrow.
Supervisor Hagman discussed “contact tracing” for COVID-19 which has been used in other counties. A voluntary on cell phone app would track where individuals have been and put the information together with outbreaks. He is trying to assess its potential popularity/usage citing privacy concerns.
The Supervisor favors new technology in all areas and cited a potential tunnel option to Ontario Airport using Elon Musk’s boring equipment.
Pulling resources together is critical, so the County has instituted a Joint Command Center for fires.
A Q & A period followed.
Meeting adjourned at 9:00 a.m.