On April 13, almost a month after California issued the shelter-in-place order that closed all non-essential businesses in the state, the Clovis City Council discussed what can be done to assist local businesses.
City Manager Luke Serpa said California is beginning to see the curve flatten. The goal of the shelter-in-place order was to flatten the curve to prevent hospitals from being overwhelmed.
“While we are still very early in this and we are not getting overly-optimistic, we are starting to see significant flattening of the curve in California. More and more, we are able to look at how we come out of this economically,” Serpa said.
But the crisis has already taken its toll on the local business community.
Serpa said the annual gross domestic product of Clovis businesses is typically about $4 billion, but estimated that the GDP might drop by 8% to 15% this fiscal quarter.
The city is doing its part to help, as it recently partnered with the Business Organization of Old Town and the Clovis Chamber of Commerce for a gift card program that aims to provide financial relief to local businesses. (Read front page) The city is also directing local businesses to government loan programs, such as the Pay Check Protection Program.
Serpa said the city will make a proposal to secure additional funds to further assist local businesses at the May 4 city council meeting.
“Not that we have the COVID problem solved, but the curve has been flattened enough, and we can look at these types of programs to try to help the economy recover afterward,” Serpa said.
The council approved Serpa’s emergency orders at the meeting, which included waiving transit fees, closing picnic areas and playgrounds in parks and enabling police officers to issue citations to enforce local and state emergency orders.
The council also weighed what actions should be taken once the economy reopens.
Councilmember Jose Flores said the city should do its best to facilitate with local businesses to give them the resources they need.
“It’s going to be a different world after we are out of our homes,” Flores said. “We should be facilitators.”
Councilmember Lynne Ashbeck said the city should defer to state orders and cautioned against making exceptions for the shelter-in-place order.
“I think we need to be super careful… we can’t have it the way we want it all of the time. This is an emergency, these are the rules, we are going to try to live with them. It will be gone soon and then we will find a new way to operate,” she said.
Mayor Drew Bessinger acknowledged frustrations with the shelter-in-place order, but said it is necessary to prevent the spread of disease and potential death.
“We step up to protect constitutional rights to allow the freedoms that Americans have, but what good are those freedoms if tens of thousands of people die because we are not being careful,” Bessinger said.