Carlos Ovalle sent the following email to the Mayor and City Council Friday morning, 3/13/2020. We are sharing it here and will update the article with relevant information if anyone from the city responds to Mr. Ovalle.
Dear Mayor and Councilmembers,
Mayor Garcia said in his email this morning, “Schools are an essential service and crucial to our communities. We are facing an unprecedented health crisis in our community, and new information is surfacing rapidly.”
The residents of Long Beach welcome this belated action by LBUSD, yet I’m sure each of you is aware of the repercussions of this action. Loss of jobs, particularly with small service-industry employers, and now the closure of schools which will place an incredible hardship on working class parents.
For those who work and cannot take time off because their employers offer little or no benefits they now have to find someone to take care of their children. There are inadequate places to do that, and the ones available are often ill equipped to handle the increase. If the intent of the closure is to prevent the spread of COVID-19, this cannot be accomplished unless parents are given paid time off.
The most vulnerable families are those of low income, generally people of color, generally residing in the western side of Long Beach.
I urge you to put an immediate stop to unnecessary projects like the [$1.5 million] El Dorado Park artificial turf. I urge you to freeze all salary increases, particularly at the upper end of the pay scale. I urge you to freeze all overtime pay for non-essential medical services. I urge you to recognize the fact that this pandemic will have long-lasting repercussions for the city and as stewards of our tax dollars it is up to you to tighten our belt. Use all available city funds to assist parents in need. This is imperative.
Sincerely
Carlos Ovalle
