Written by Nicholas Vetrisek
The coronavirus has severely affected small businesses and low-income communities, leading the San Diego County Board of Supervisors to approve a moratorium on evictions. They want to prevent low-income households from losing their housing along with preventing restaurants and bars—businesses hit especially hard by the Coronavirus—from going under.
The moratorium proposed by Kristin Gaspar and Nathan Fletcher was passed unanimously. “Many San Diego County residents work paycheck to paycheck and may be unable to pay rent or their commercial lease due to reduced income,” the proposal says.
The measure allows the Chief Administrative Officer of the county to work with financial institutions and halt foreclosures along with foreclosure-related evictions. It will also allow the county Housing Authority to give recipients, including those in Section 8 housing, an extended deadline. The deadline for tenants to inform landlords of their situation is one week.
Supervisors Kristin Gaspar and Jim Desmond held a news briefing to speak about the need for local business support in order to manage and recover from the coronavirus pandemic.
MEDIA ADVISORY: Supervisors Gaspar and Desmond Seek Recovery and Resiliency For Our Business Community Devastated by COVID-19. pic.twitter.com/oBBfsnYi8V
— Supervisor Jim Desmond (@jim_desmond) March 23, 2020
Resilience, defined, is the ability to become strong, healthy and successful again after something bad happens,” Gaspar said at the meeting. “As we stand here today, we’re in the midst of that bad. Our health, businesses—indeed, our livelihood and way of life—are at risk because we face this unprecedented pandemic.”
In addition to the moratorium, they are both asking for the Board to defer all environmental health permitting fees so businesses can be allowed to open as soon as possible.
“While we’re still in the midst of this coronavirus storm, we must plan for the best out of a bad experience,” Desmond said. “We need to plan for the road to recovery for the many restaurants and businesses that have been affected by the coronavirus.”
While the coronavirus has undoubtedly been devastating for San Diego businesses, it seems that everything is being done to ensure that when the crisis is over, the transition will be as smooth as possible.
