Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutSupplemental Communication from Sara Anderson1 Gloria Harper From:Sara Anderson <sara.anderson@me.com> Sent:Tuesday, March 31, 2020 3:28 PM To:Schelly Sustarsic; Joe Kalmick; Thomas Moore; Mike Varipapa; Sandra Massa-Lavitt Cc:Jill Ingram; Kevin Ortiz; Gloria Harper Subject:External Email : Closure of Edison Community Gardens Attachments:image001.jpg; ATT00001.htm; image002.jpg; ATT00002.htm; image003.jpg; ATT00003.htm; Govt Code and HS Code statutes.pdf; ATT00004.htm Dear Mayor Sustarsic and Members of the Council,   I am writing to you to express my hope that you will reconsider opening the Edison Community Gardens.  I expressed my thoughts in  an email to Mr. Kevin Ortiz,  Park and Recreation Department and received a timely response from the Mr. Philip Gonshak, Chief of  Police. (Both emails are attached and are dated March 24, 2020.)   Thank you for your consideration of my comments and thank you for all you are doing to keep Seal Beach and its residents safe  during these unprecedented times.   Stay safe,   Sara Anderson 235 16th Street Resident of Old Town Seal Beach since 1988 Begin forwarded message: From: Phil Gonshak <pgonshak@sealbeachca.gov> Subject: Re: Edison Community Gardens Date: March 24, 2020 at 1:02:26 PM PDT To: "sara.anderson@me.com" <sara.anderson@me.com> Cc: Nicholas Nicholas <nnicholas@sealbeachca.gov>, Michael Henderson <MHenderson@sealbeachca.gov>, Mike Ezroj <MEzroj@sealbeachca.gov>, Kevin Ortiz <kortiz@sealbeachca.gov>, Jill Ingram <jingram@sealbeachca.gov>, Patrick Gallegos <PGallegos@sealbeachca.gov>, Les Johnson <LJohnson@sealbeachca.gov> Hello Ms. Anderson, I hope this email finds you well. I appreciate your very kind email this morning, as several of them haven’t been so polite in nature. With that, thank you for considering the especially anxious times we are living in. The decision to hopefully slow and/or stop the spread of this virus in Seal Beach rests with everyone who lives, works and visits here. Similarly, I want you to know the recommendation to take these drastic measures came from me, as your Chief of Police. I’m certain you can understand that if someone does actually pass away from Covid-19 in our beautiful city, which I live in as well, I would feel terrible and truly be ashamed for not doing my absolute best to stop it - especially since I have the actual power to do so with these preventative measures. That would be a very heavy weight on my conscience and I hope you understand. I unfortunately had to give my family gardening plot away a few years ago, because my girls became too busy. Nonetheless, as with any public access park location, there are slow times and busy times. It is unfortunate we cannot piece mail certain locations, as this decision is a wide casted net with the hope of 2 releasing some of these restrictions in due time. As far as the entire city - my wife, kids and grandkids love our beach and frequent it often. The pier, in my opinion, looks the best I have ever seen it and we enjoy standing on it to watch both the sunrises and sunsets. Along with you and many other citizens of Seal Beach, we are making the sacrifice as a whole. With this global pandemic that has already gripped our state and nation, we are living and experiencing a time of both uncertainty and angst. Because of this, my recommendation to close the gardens, parks, beaches, trails, and pier, comes with a heavy weight of responsibility, all the while knowing it may upset a few but hopefully may save the life of even one. It is because of this that I hope you don’t naturally respond emotionally (as we all often do). Rather, I ask you to seek some understanding, as the following entities/cities who have followed suit by closing some and or all of the same areas include: California State Park Campgrounds, San Diego, Carlsbad, Laguna Beach, Huntington Beach, and Long Beach, with several more that I have been told will soon follow within the next few days. Furthermore, my objective for the City of Seal Beach Police Department during this time of uncertainty is to “Educate First”. I can assure you it is not our goal nor intention to be out and about looking for violators in the gardens, parks, piers, and/or beaches but rather give the warning first if called, then if challenged, cite only when absolutely and critically necessary (see attached government codes). Our goal has and always will be to protect the citizens of Seal Beach, and during this challenging time it may mean that we have to do so in ways we are all uncomfortable with. I hope you know that I took an oath to each and every one of you in this community to do everything in my power to ensure its safety, and I intend to do so always. If interested, below I have attached a link to the briefing we gave to the City Council via an emergency meeting last Thursday night: https://sealbeach.primegov.com/Portal/Meeting?compiledMeetingDocumentFileId=3861 If you have 30 minutes, please watch and/or at least listen. Once finished, I invite you ask me any questions you like and I’ll try my best to respond given the available time I have. In closing, thank you for providing me an opportunity to explain this decision and please let me know how the City of Seal Beach can help better serve you in the future. All the best, Phil Philip L. Gonshak Chief of Police City of Seal Beach Police Department 911 Seal Beach Boulevard, Seal Beach, CA 90740   (562) 799-4124 (Office) (562) 493-0634 (Fax) Government Code § 26600. Preservation of peace The sheriff shall preserve peace, and to accomplish this object may sponsor, supervise, or participate in any project of crime prevention, rehabilitation of persons previously convicted of crime, or the suppression of delinquency. Government Code § 41601. Suppression of disturbances; execution of disease prevention orders; powers and protection For the suppression of riot, public tumult, disturbance of the peace, or resistance against the laws or public authorities in the lawful exercise of their functions, and for the execution of all orders of the local health officer issued for the purpose of preventing the spread of any contagious, infectious, or communicable disease, the chief of police has the powers conferred upon sheriffs by general law and in all respects is entitled to the same protection. Health and Safety Code § 101029. Spread of contagious, infectious, or communicable diseases; prevention orders; enforcement by sheriff or peace officer The sheriff of each county, or city and county, may enforce within the county, or the city and county, all orders of the local health officer issued for the purpose of preventing the spread of any contagious, infectious, or communicable disease. Every peace officer of every political subdivision of the county, or city and county, may enforce within the area subject to his or her jurisdiction all orders of the local health officer issued for the purpose of preventing the spread of any contagious, infectious, or communicable disease. This section is not a limitation on the authority of peace officers or public officers to enforce orders of the local health officer. When deciding whether to request this assistance in enforcement of its orders, the local health officer may consider whether it would be necessary to advise the enforcement agency of any measures that should be taken to prevent infection of the enforcement officers. Health and Safety Code § 120295. Violations of duties by local health officers; offense; penalty Any person who violates Section 120130 or any section in Chapter 3 (commencing with Section 120175, but excluding Section 120195), is guilty of a misdemeanor, punishable by a fine of not less than fifty dollars ($50) nor more than one thousand dollars ($1,000), or by imprisonment for a term of not more than 90 days, or by both. He or she is guilty of a separate offense for each day that the violation continued. Health and Safety Code § 120175.5. Outbreak of communicable disease; notification of government entities (a) During an outbreak of a communicable disease, or upon the imminent and proximate threat of a communicable disease outbreak or epidemic that threatens the public's health, a local health officer shall do both of the following: (1) Promptly notify and update governmental entities within the local health officer's jurisdiction about communicable diseases listed in Section 2500 of Title 17 of the California Code of Regulations that may affect them, if, in the opinion of the local health officer, action or inaction on the part of the governmental entity might affect outbreak response efforts. (2) Make any relevant information available to governmental entities, including, but not limited to, the locations of concentrations of cases, the number of residents affected, and the measures that the governmental entities should take to assist with outbreak response efforts. (b) In addition to the actions required under subdivision (a), the local health officer may issue orders to other governmental entities within the local health officer's jurisdiction to take any action the local health officer deems necessary to control the spread of the communicable disease. (c) A local health officer that provides the notification and information to a governmental entity pursuant to subdivision (a), and the governmental entity that receives the notification and information, shall comply with all applicable state and federal privacy laws.