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Fresno Mayor Lee Brand gives green light for these businesses to reopen
Fresno Mayor Lee Brand announced on Tuesday that the city will allow certain businesses to reopen on Monday.
Fresno is one of the first major California cities to make the push since the coronavirus pandemic brought severe shelter in place rules nearly seven weeks ago.
Businesses that will be allowed to reopen with restrictions include auto, truck, boat, motorcycle, RV and mobile home sales; electronic and camera stores; lawn and garden stores; new construction projects, building and remodeling supply stores; pool and spa sales; furniture stores and auctions.
All other retail businesses may conduct online sales using curbside pickup and no-contact delivery.
Brand made the announcement during a news conference at City Hall with others on his economic recovery committee including Mayor-Elect Jerry Dyer and City Council President Miguel Arias.
“Previously, the governor talked about a dimmer switch to slowly restart our economy. Yesterday the governor said counties and cities could open faster than the state,” Brand said. “Last Friday, we outlined what Fresno’s switch would look like, and today we have announced we are turning that switch on starting Monday to open up hundreds of businesses and thousands of jobs.”
The city’s health care system comes first, though, he said. City officials will monitor health indicators and will pull back if deaths and hospitalizations spike.
Businesses that are allowed to reopen on May 11 must follow strict social distancing guidelines including limiting customers to one per 500 square feet. All businesses in the city equire face coverings for employees and customers. Businesses will not be allowed to accept returns for 30 days, and employees must undergo training on the new protective measures.
The city will provide an online tutorial for business owners in English, Spanish, Hmong and Punjabi. Businesses must also post signs in their storefronts indicating their business is an authorized business. City staffers will conduct random inspections to ensure businesses are following the rules, and code enforcement will respond when the city receives complaints.
“I want you all to know that I’ve heard and seen your fear, frustration, your anger and your despair. I understand you want to see a certainty,” Brand said. “But the coronavirus is uncertain and capricious.”
Brand, who participates in weekly calls with mayors of California’s other large cities, said based on those conversations he thinks Fresno is among the first to phase in business openings.
Shelter in place order remains
Buddy Mendes, the chair of the Fresno County Board of Supervisors, hours before the announcement called on Brand to lift Fresno’s shelter-in-place order. Last week, Brand extended the shelter-in-place order to May 31.
“Our community has enough to consider as we work through this pandemic without having to add another layer of bureaucracy. We hope the city of Fresno will consider canceling its stay-at-home order so that we may all move forward in this recovery together,” Mendes said in a news release.
That came as a “complete surprise” to Brand, who said just earlier Tuesday he spoke with county officials about the plan to reopen.
“I don’t understand it,” he said, adding the city and county should act as partners.
Dyer acknowledged residents’ frustration and even anger caused by the shelter-in-place order and other pandemic measures.
“I’m asking people in this community to come together,” he said. “This is a crisis that we are facing at present, a crisis that we have never seen as a country. I’m asking the people of Fresno to come together, to encourage one another, to support one another. Let’s band together as one Fresno as we move forward in opening up our economy.”
Arias said Fresno is a “fire hose” when it comes to the economy in Fresno County. He called the plan conservative, adding that city officials can pull back or press pause if needed.
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