CCMIN 02162021 - Laserfiche WebLink

Pleasanton which successfully soft-opened on February 15th. He provided websites for additional information. City Manager Fialho advised Governor Newsom lifted the Stay at Home Order on January 25th but the County remains in the purple "widespread" tier. He noted Pleasanton is trending on a lower scale than the rest of the County and its Tri-Valley peers in new cases per day per 100.000 residents but remains purple. He advised the region and County have faired better in regards to testing positivity rates and currently standing in the yellow "moderate" tier. He noted the Tri-Valley cities are at 14.9 positive cases per 100,000 residents which is below the rest of the County's 24. He also advised the Tri-Valley cities are at a 4.1% positivity rate while the rest of Alameda County is at 4.6%. Lastly, he reported the City has to be out of the purple tier in both metrics for two weeks for schools to reopen. City Manager Fialho stated the State and County Health Orders require face coverings unless outdoors alone or with a member of their social bubble. He advised the County order dictates an individual must have a mask with them at all times outside the house and put it on when other individuals approach within 30 feet. He advised the State order requires mask-wearing when within six feet of someone not from their household. He detailed extensive efforts made by the City to educate the community about mask-wearing and noted all employees and visitors to City offices and facilities must wear a mask. City Manager Fialho reported Dublin and Livermore have adopted fines for non-compliance with mask mandates noting their enforcement efforts have been focused on businesses with Dublin issuing under 10 citations and Livermore issuing none. City Manager Fialho reported policy considerations for the Council to consider revolve around continued education about mask-wearing, added signage at city-owned properties, adding citations for non-compliance at focused areas of concern such as city-owned property or downtown, or adding citations for non-compliance city-wide. He advised that if either of the latter two options were chosen staff would return at the next meeting with an Urgency Ordinance for implementation. City Manager Fialho presented charts of daily changes in COVID-19 levels for Tri-Valley cities, Alameda County, and California since April 2020. He noted substantial ebbs and flows over the past year but reported trends are currently improving. He clarified the trends are not proportional to each city's enforcement policies. Councilmember Testa commented that the purpose of having a citation option would be more of a deterrent and she would not expect the Pleasanton Police Department (PPD) to be issuing many of them. She cited the low numbers from Dublin and Livermore as evidence of this. In response to Councilmember Testa's inquiries, City Manager Fialho confirmed only PPD's sworn officers could issue citations. He agrees with Councilmember Testa's comment of the premise and goal of the discussion not being to have PPD issue mass citations but rather to potentially instill a threat of one. He confirmed parking enforcement officers could not issue this sort of citation in the short term. He advised against the long-term steps it would require to give parking enforcement officers this ability. In response to Councilmember Arkin's inquiries, City Manager Fialho confirmed PPD officers would always have discretion in how to apply the policies with a focus on education. He expects an officer to cite for non-compliance as a last-resort option. Lastly, he confirmed the Dublin and Livermore policies are city-wide and not just in focused areas. In response to Councilmember Balch's inquiry. City Attorney Sodergren clarified a violation of Alameda County's Health Order is considered a misdemeanor. He advised that several other counties have allowed Administrative Citations to be issued instead of criminal penalties enforced by city officers. He advised Alameda County has not done this so each city must determine if they want their officers to have the ability to issue citations for violating the County order. City Council Minutes Page 11 of 16 February 16. 2021