"Only one" Los Angeles business has had power and water cut off for failing to follow COVID-19 Safer-at-Home orders, according to the Office of Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti.
“It was a last resort after many checks and visits through various disaster workers making voluntary visitations,” Harrison Wollman, Garcetti’s deputy press secretary, said today.
Garcetti announced two months ago his Business Ambassadors program in which various disaster workers voluntarily visit nonessential businesses to encourage them to comply with his Safer-at-Home order in response to the reported COVID-19 outbreak.
As of May 14, there are 73,164 coronavirus cases statewide with 3,032 associated fatalities, according to the Department of Health, compared to Los Angeles, where there are 34,574 cases with 1,659 association fatalities.
“The compliance measure was announced at the same time as the Safer-at-Home order as an enforcement mechanism," said Wollman who declined to identify the business or its industry sector of operation. “There were multiple visits from multiple groups."
On March 15, Garcetti ordered the closure of movie theaters, live performance venues, bowling alleys, arcades, all bars and nightclubs in the City of Los Angeles that do not serve food as well as gyms and fitness centers.
“LAPD made contact with the business long before their water and power was cut off,” Wollman told the Southern California Record. “There are at least four or five visits and encounters before we would take that last resort. That's why there's only one business that has had their lights and water cut off.”
Garcetti is among 32 California officials named in a federal lawsuit, alleging that government orders are depriving nonessential businesses of their Constitutional rights and civil liberties by not affording a hearing to present reasons for why they shouldn’t be shut down.
Gondola Adventures, Inc. et al v. Gavin Newsom et al was filed in the Central District of California on April 24 by attorneys Mark Geragos and Harmeet Dhillon.
“We’re all safer at home, and that’s not a suggestion — it is the law,” said Garcetti in a press release. “Refusing to follow it isn’t brave or funny — it’s stupid and could wind up killing you or someone else. Angelenos are doing an extraordinary job of staying in their homes, and we won’t tolerate the selfish behavior of a few who unnecessarily put our community at risk.”
Garcetti's enforcement mechanism is supported by city attorney Mike Feuer, who has assigned a team of prosecutors to work with the LAPD, according to media reports.
“As part of the City team, my office’s Neighborhood Prosecutors will work toward gaining compliance with the Order, helping ensure that our families are safe,” said Feuer in a March 24 statement that is posted online.