By E. Isaac Leef
The La Palma city Council met in a special meeting last week to discuss how to best use a $50,000 grant from the County of Orange, designated for small business assistance during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Council considered the option of partnering with local businesses and using the grant to expand permanent outdoor seating.
Those attending included Mayor Nitesh P. Patel, Mayor Pro Tem Michele Steggell, Council Member Debbie S. Baker, Council Member Marshall Goodman, and Council Member Mark I. Waldman.
The city council hopes to spend the money by July 31 by partnering with small businesses. The list of candidates includes businesses that have been previously given funds by the city council, as well as new businesses that have been vetted by the Small Business Development Center. One group of interest are commercial shopping centers.
Some council members spoke of possibly using the grants to expand these businesses’ outdoor seating capacity. Instead of half measures like K barriers or tents, the grants will expand permanent seating, allowing these businesses to accommodate more customers while also abiding by health regulations imposed by state and local government.
The council will be speaking with local businesses within two to four weeks from the meeting date. A motion to accept the funds and related documents passed with a unanimous vote, however the exact decision on where to allocate the funds was not officially made.
In keeping with Covid-19, the City Council also looked over Orange County’s plans for Covid-19. For one, keeping the public updated on social media and on the public webpage. For another, Orange County’s current vaccination plan will be to ensure that every resident and every worker in the country is vaccinated by July 4th. The first phase of this will be vaccinations for hospital workers and people over 65.
In line with current Covid-19 regulations, members of the public weren’t allowed to physically attend. The meeting was only accessible via telephone or the La Palma City website.
Along with the Covid-19 aid, the city council also started with a special session meant to fill four vacancies that had opened up in the Development and Circulation Committee.
Applicants included Henry Lee, Kris Moskowitz, Manish Jethvani, Sergio Alvarez, Greg Sambrano, James Vaughn, and Rodi Almendralo. Council members questioned each applicant on their work experience, time commitments, previous contributions to the La Palma community, and their plans if selected for the committee.
After the interview, the city council introduced a motion to nominate four candidates: Henry Lee, Sergio Alvarez, Greg Sambrano, and Rodi Almendralo. The motion passed with five unanimous yes votes. The results were sent to the city clerk, who informed the applicants on Jan. 20.
Another item of note is that the city council adopted an amended City Council policy, and adopted the City of La Palma’s 2021 State and Federal Legislative Platform. The amended City Council policy would have the city’s annual legislative platform be brought before the Council on January 31 instead of January 1, due to complications brought about by the previous election year. The State and Federal Legislative Platform for 2021 had no differences from last year’s platform (2020). Adopting the amended policy and the legislative platform passed with a unanimous vote.
