'People Are Struggling': LA City Announces $100M Relief Program For Renters, Landlords
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) — With just a few days left before June 1, the Los Angeles City Council announced a major relief effort Wednesday aimed at helping both renters and landlords struggling in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.
"It is the largest renter's relief program of any city in our nation," Council President Nury Martinez said.
The city said it will use $100 million in federal pandemic relief funding to help about 50,000 families across the city.
"People are struggling," Mayor Eric Garcetti said. "They feel that they are either looking over the cliff or already falling off of it."
The program will provide up to $1,000 per month for two months to landlords to help families in need pay their rent. The city said it would soon announce how people could apply.
The news comes the same day the state of California surpassed 100,000 COVID-19 cases, according to the Los Angeles Times tracker.
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But Los Angeles County Public Health Director Dr. Barbara Ferrer said that an increase in the number of positive tests could be because of the county's growing testing capacity.
"That's a good thing, as I've noted, because that just means a lot more people are getting tested," she said. "But our positivity rate is also down."
Deaths and hospitalizations are also down across the county, which means L.A. could see barbershops and salons reopen soon. Officials Wednesday were awaiting approval from Gov. Gavin Newsom to move forward and expected word as early as the end of the week.
Though fitness centers and gyms were still left wondering when they would be able to open their doors again.
"I cannot afford to wait much longer than a week at this stage," one gym owner said during a virtual roundtable with the governor. "We are literally gasping for air."
Newsom told a panel of gym owners that his office would release guidelines for gyms to reopen in the coming week.
But as the state continues to move forward with reopening, Santa Clara County's Public Health Officer Dr. Sara Cody said she believes the state is moving too fast.
"The pace at which the state has made these modifications is concerning to me," she said.
