Malibu council defers ‘COVID-smart’ proposal
by Michele Willer-Allred, Staff Reporter
12:51 pm PDT July 15, 2020
The Malibu City Council on Monday voted to table a proposal to make Malibu the first “COVID-smart” community.
By a 4-1, with Mayor Mikke Pierson dissenting, the council took no action regarding a training program called COVID-SMART aimed at teaching private-sector employees how to return to work as safely as possible and keeping them up to date on best COVID-19 prevention practices.
Pierson introduced the proposal, which would encourage Malibu businesses to participate and become certified in the program developed by the company Direct Education Worldwide Inc. The company is partnering with the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology to ensure employee training follows the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s best practices in infection prevention.
Pierson said the program lets the consumer know that the business has done everything that is recommended through the CDC. He said that could help Malibu businesses attract shoppers that might be afraid to go out because of COVID-19, and survive a tough economic environment that has already been hit by the Woolsey Fire.
“I am extremely worried about our small businesses surviving through (the pandemic),” Pierson explained, adding that a lot of cities want to come on board with the program as a way to help their businesses give their customers some level of security.
During public comment, Planning Commission member Steve Uhring said he didn’t believe the structure of the program was the best way to help small businesses.
Uhring said there was “no evidence in the staff report that anyone in the city actually reviewed any of these training programs to confer that they will produce a COVID-safe environment they propose.”
Uhring went on to say he wasn’t even sure what “COVID-safe environment” even means.
“If a ‘COVID-safe environment’ (notice) on the door promises that I will not contract the virus if I enter the building, then these guys are severely underpricing their product,” quipped Uhring, who added that the program was costly for small businesses.
Uhring also took issue with the part of the proposal giving the company unrestricted use of Malibu’s name, and wondered if they could even sell Malibu COVID T-shirts and stickers with no rules in place.
“My suggestion is to go back, think about this, let’s get rules in place and understand what we’re offering, and make sure we’re going to do this right,” Uhring said.
Malibu resident Kraig Hill said he believes the company is asking Malibu for a commercial endorsement, and only offering the city a slight discount when it should be paying the city for the advertising rights.
Hill also questioned what would happen if a wave of COVID-19 rolls through and the city finds it has a higher per capita infection rate?
“Will we become a laughingstock for having the elitist view that we’re untouchable?” he asked.
“It might be fine to try a few businesses to see how it goes on a trial basis, but it seems like we’d be taking on a load of hubris to be perceived as so self-congratulatory as the world’s first COVID-smart community,” Hill said. “That honor seems like it would go to New Zealand, South Korea or maybe the whole state of Hawaii, who’s only had 19 deaths so far.”
In response, Pierson said he felt the speakers either didn’t read the staff report or they really don’t care about businesses.
“It doesn’t guarantee no one will get COVID. It’s trying to help show the businesses are doing the best that they can to stay as safe as they possibly can,” said Pierson, adding that the Malibu Chamber of Commerce supports the program.
Council member Rick Mullen applauded entrepreneurs coming up with ways to enhance the ability for businesses to wrestle with the new COVID challenges.
However, Mullen said he was hesitant to sign on and impose additional costs on businesses that might feel pressured to participate.
Council member Jefferson Wagner, who has been a small business owner in Malibu for more than 45 years, said he appreciated the effort to help businesses, but noted a lot of business best practices regarding COVID-19 can be found online.
Wagner said that many businesses such as his own — Zuma Jay’s Surf Shop — already use a lot of safety protocols, such as requiring face masks and distancing of customers and employees. He said if those businesses didn’t go through the program, it wouldn’t mean they aren’t COVID-aware, “they just didn’t want to go through a private business to put up a sign.”
Council member Karen Farrer said the program may be something better left to the Chamber of Commerce rather than the city.
“I want to be able to support this, but I’m not 100 percent convinced,” said Skylar Peak, the council member who initiated the motion to take no action.