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All council members were present for the Tuesday, July 6 City Council meeting. The session started at 5:02 p.m. and ended at 8:21 p.m. Here's what you missed:
Assemblyman Mike Gipson receives $3 million for Carriage Crest Park Expansion. The city will receive $3 million to help pay for Carriage Crest Park expansion thanks in large part to Assemblymember Mike Gipson. During a brief legislative update from his office, Field Representative Jun Aglipay made the announcement stating that Gipson espoused the money allocation from the state budget. Mayor Lula Davis-Holmes thanked Aglipay and requested that the Assemblymember present the money to the city so she can thank him personally. The council chose a concept layout during the Jan. 26 meeting which is estimated to cost $11.4 million.
The legislative update also included two bills which recently passed the assembly floor. AB 490, also known as "The Angelo Quinto Bill," which seeks to ban law enforcement from using any restraints which may cause positional asphyxia. Such techniques lead to the deaths of George Floyd and Angelo Quinto. The California Health Equity Program, or AB 1038, would support partnerships among local health departments, community clinics, and community-based and tribal organizations serving disadvantageous communities who have been hit hardest by the pandemic.
COVID-19 Update indicates majority of California cases belonging to Delta Variant. During the COVID-19 presentation, Emergency Services Manager Raymond Cheung, indicated a slight increase in COVID cases with the Delta variant overtaking the majority of current cases in California. In just a couple of months, the delta variant jumped from 2.1% to 35.6%. Cheung added that the delta variant may be more contagious but all three vaccines are effective at preventing severe illness, hospitalizations, and death from the variant. He adds, “The vast majority, over 99% of the folks who are coming down with COVID now are unvaccinated.” According to the report, 54,499, or 70.3% Carson residents have been vaccinated.
Resolutions establishing premium pay for unrepresented part time employees and offering grocery/pharmacy stores the option to provide HERO Pay to essential workers adopted. The council unanimously passed two resolutions which seek to provide extra compensation for essential employees who worked during the surge of the COVID-19 pandemic. The first resolution will provide a one time $1000 lump sum premium pay to unrepresented part-time City employees who worked in a role deemed essential for any amount of time from Dec. 1, 2020 to Mar. 1, 2021. City Manager Sharon Landers indicated that 109 individuals fall into this category and thus the City will pay $109,000 to cover everyone's premium pay. The second resolution establishes a "Hero Pay" program where large companies with over 300 employees nation-wide such as grocery stores, retail stores that devote at least 10% of their floor area to groceries, and retail pharmacies, can voluntarily provide an additional $4 to their non-management essential workers' base pay. Similarly to the first resolution, only essential workers who worked between Dec. 1, 2020 to Mar. 1, 2021 are eligible for Hero Pay. "The essential workers kept America running during this pandemic," said Councilmember Jawane Hilton showing his appreciation, "these people are real life heroes... I believe they deserve this Hero Pay."
City hires Bear Demographics & Research, LLC for new district boundaries. The council approved an item in the consent calendar to acquire the services of Bear Demographics and Research for the mandatory implementation of new district boundaries using data from the 2020 Census. Mayor Lula Davis-Holmes abstained from the vote despite being one of the two member Ad Hoc Subcommittee tasked with reviewing demographers and making the recommendation to the entire city council. Bear Demographics & Research, LLC will be required to hold public hearings prior to creating any new maps. According to the staff report, the public hearings are anticipated to be conducted late 2021, after receiving updated Census data. Public hearings to consider any published maps are expected to take place early 2022 in order to approve one for the November 2022 election by the deadline in April. The contract will cost the city $29,000.
Mayor Pro Tem Jim Dear and Mayor Lula Davis-Holmes feud over 'Dictator Amendment.' Once again Mayor Pro Tem Jim Dear's request to add an item to the upcoming agenda was rejected by Mayor Lula Davis-Holmes. The item in particular, that Dear has been requesting to add since early March, seeks to rescind what he calls 'The Dictator Amendment' which increased the amount of votes needed to add an item to the agenda from three votes to four and was introduced on Dec. 12, 2018. Mayor Davis-Holmes' reasoning behind not rescinding the amendment, is she has never stopped anyone from adding an item to the agenda. However, she guarantees that she will continue to reject Dear’s request to add this item to the agenda.
Notice of Special Election posted on City Website. On June 29, a notice was officially given calling for a Special Municipal Election to fill the positions of City Clerk and Council Member of the 4th district to be held Tuesday, Nov. 2, 2021. Nominations begin Monday July 12 - Aug. 6 and can be given to the City Clerk's Office via email (jcarroll@carsonca.gov) or by phone (310 952-1720).
The council made the following Proclamations:
Recognizing July 2021 as Parks and Recreation Month
National Organization for Women
Voting Rights Act of 1965