City Manager Updates

PAGE LAST UPDATED: October 2, 2020

To keep residents informed, City Manager Brian Loventhal will  post recaps of the City’s COVID-19 response and mitigation efforts as new information is available. For more updates and resources, visit our COVID-19 web page for more information.

October 2, 2020

September 18, 2020

August 28, 2020

August 7, 2020

June 19, 2020

June 5, 2020

May 8, 2020

April 23, 2020

April 17, 2020

April 15, 2020

April 14, 2020

April 13, 2020

April 10, 2020

April 9, 2020

April 8, 2020

October 2, 2020

Downtown Parklets                                                                                                                                                                              Downtown parklets were installed on Monday and the supplemental 24” box trees were installed on Tuesday.  There were no significant issues with the installation and the conversion went very smoothly.  Businesses are now adding vegetation, umbrellas and other features to help define their spaces.  I am coordinating questions and responses directly from businesses so that my office can facilitate timely and accurate responses from the various departments.  If your constituents have any questions, please have them contact me at (408) 866-2125, or at cmoffice@campbellca.gov. 

COVID-19 Food Distribution                                                                                                                                                                           During the weekly Santa Clara County City Manager’s zoom meeting, we discussed the COVID-19 Food Distribution Program and San Jose’s request for financial contributions.  The cost originally presented by San Jose last month, was met with surprise and many unanswered questions.  However, over the past couple of weeks, the issues are being addressed and we are slowly getting clarification on the program costs.  

The food distribution cost was complicated because they combined many elements, such as Great Plates, the Brown Bag Groceries Delivery Program, and food distribution through the Campbell Union School District.  With regards to the Great Plates Program, the City of San Jose has been informed that they can now directly submit for FEMA reimbursement (less a 6.25% local share).  The Great Plates Program provides 2 meals daily and requires financial qualifications.  Campbell has had approximately 30 residents that have utilized the program.  

The matching share is about $2.75 per day, per resident (they receive 2 meals a day).  Since the inception of the Great Plates Program, initial estimates are roughly $15,000 for Campbell residents.  The other food programs that San Jose spearheaded are not directly related to any request on our behalf and we continue to work with the other cities and San Jose on resolution to those program costs.   

Residential Fire                                                                                                                                                                                               Early this morning CPD and SCC Fire were dispatched to a reported residential structure fire at 1250 S. Clover Avenue in Campbell.  CPD was the first to respond and officers were successful in rescuing an elderly bedridden resident.   The daughter/caregiver was already outside the residence when CPD arrived.  The fire was extinguished in about 55 minutes. There was heavy fire damage to the garage and attic, the living space sustained moderate smoke and fire damage.  Both residents are safe, and the cause of the fire is under investigation.

Recreation and Community Services                                                                                                                                                           The Community Center continues to provide COVID-19 testing.   The next testing dates are Thursday, October 8 and Thursday, October 22.  We are working with the County to extend the testing through December.

The International Council on Active Aging and Humana present “Active Aging Week.” The City of Campbell is partnering with other local cities in the County to provide free weekly classes to help adults 55 and older focus on staying active.  Please see the attached program schedule for more information.   

The Youth Commission will be co-hosting a “Pizza and Politics” event virtually with the City of Saratoga and the City of Cupertino.   Mayor Landry will be attending this event.  

November 3, 2020 – Santa Clara County Election Information                                                                                                                    A ballot box drop box has been placed just outside of City Hall near the front parking lot.  The ballot drop box will begin accepting vote by mail ballots on Monday, October 5.  The City’s website provides current election information such as:  where to register to vote; how to find your district; ballot drop box locations; important dates, voter information and other election related links. 

September 18, 2020                                                                                         Downtown Update

Since the September 1 Council meeting, staff has been doing additional research regarding materials required to facilitate the creation of parklets and working with downtown businesses to get a more accurate read on how many businesses would be interested in having parklets in their street frontage.  Based on the input to this point, it appears that there are 23 businesses that will have parklets.  Some of these will coincide with the street frontage of the business, while some others may go beyond the frontage - with the permission of neighboring businesses.

Staff has performed detailed measurements and had formulated a layout that will include a combination of the orange water-filled traffic barriers (already purchased), concrete k-rails (to be rented), and trees.  The following is the schedule for the remainder of the month:

                 Friday, September 18:           Campbell Avenue closed to through traffic, with cross streets remaining open; 

     Monday, September 21:        Barricades removed - re-open to vehicular traffic;

                  Friday, September 25:           Campbell Avenue to close to vehicle traffic with cross streets remaining open;

                  Monday, September 28:        K-rails will be delivered and installed in place using a small  crane.  

Campbell Avenue will likely re-open to vehicles the afternoon of Monday, September 28 and will be kept open until such time additional direction is provided by Council.  (The trees will be delivered and placed later in the week of 9/28; delivery date not confirmed yet).

While most of the parklets will be contained along sections of Campbell Avenue that had been subject to the closure, there will be two small areas with parklets outside that original area.  One will be on Central Avenue (serving Trattoria 360) and one on East Campbell Avenue (west of Third Street (serving Stacks).  

8x8

The citywide phone deployment is underway.   We are currently scheduled to begin the rollout desk phone at the beginning of October and complete the process by the middle of October. During this time, we will validate Public Safety non-emergency phone transfers, elevator, alarms, and sprinkler systems phone connections.  Because the new system uses the Internet for communications, we will deploy a secondary internet line from a secondary carrier.  The primary connection will be from Comcast and the backup connection from AT&T.  The two will be utilized in real-time during normal operations so that no capacity is wasted, and will automatically failover to phone lines, so we never lose phone connections.  The cost savings for this project may be more significant than anticipated.  The original goal was to have little or no impact on the city's operating budget by replacing existing maintenance, labor and equipment costs with the operating costs of the new phones.  As we optimize City resources, we are finding substantial savings opportunities with existing phone lines.  To date, we have reduced monthly phone charges by $3,800. The estimated savings range for this project is between $5,000 - 7,000 a month. This is in addition to the savings proposed at the beginning of the project.

Artisan Pop-Up Market

The Campbell Chamber of Commerce will be hosting an Artisan Pop-Up Market next weekend, September 26 and 27 from 10 am to 5 pm. The pop-up market will take place in the parking lot at the Campbell Community Center near the track.  Artisan booths will be spaced out throughout a portion of the parking lot, volunteers will be monitoring access points, social distancing and face coverings will be enforced by event coordinators. The event has been vetted through the County Health Department and all vendors will have COVID-19 protocols through the County completed and posted during the event. This is a retail market and will not host food booths.

Heritage Theatre

The Heritage Theatre will be presenting two virtual concerts. For both shows we have agreed to send out a press release, post it on our website and FB pages and send out eblasts promoting the show. Tickets will be processed through artist website and special codes will be provided through our social media.  For each code used, the Heritage Theatre will receive a portion of the ticket sale. There is no financial obligation or risk for either of these performances. The performance will be recorded remotely and livestreamed to the ticket holders via the internet.

Thursday, December 10, 7:00 pm

Jim Brickman

Comfort & Joy at Home Live! Virtually

• Concert will be performed from his studio in Cleveland, Ohio and livestreamed to our audiences. Ticket prices per household are $40, $75 & $125 and includes interactive Zoom Room, Meet & Greets and Christmas gifts delivered to patrons' doors. This is a family-friendly holiday concert;
• You can view all participating venues at https://www.jimbrickman.com/tour/;
• Tickets went on sale today 9/18;
• The Heritage Theatre has presented Jim Brickman as part of our season packages 3 times and each performance has either sold out or come very close to a sellout. 

Go Now!, a Moody Blues Tribute led by 25-year Moody Blues drummer, Gordon Marshall                                                  Saturday, October 17 at 12:00 pm PST

Oktoberfest Virtual Fun Run

The Recreation Department will be hosting a virtual Oktoberfest Fun Run to promote health and wellness during quarantine.  The race will be open for an entire week for runners to complete the run.  Once completed, participants are encouraged to post a selfie to social media or submit to us for posting.  Race shirts will be provided, but there will not be any prizes.  The event is encouraging participants to be creative in where they choose to go out and run! 

August 28, 2020

As I previously shared with the Council, the City has ordered a total of four temperature screening kiosks.  Delivery of the kiosks is expected in the coming week.  If you visit City Hall, the Police Department, the Service Center, or the Community Center Recreation office, you may try it out the new kiosks yourself. These kiosks will allow for employees easily to self-monitor their temperature every time the enter a facility.

The Community Center is in the process of implementing the following procedures related to COVID-19:

Portable UV light sanitizers have been purchased to be placed in the pre-school classrooms and main office to quickly disinfect doorknobs, handles, shared supplies (i.e. scissors, pens, etc.) and other high touch areas. Pre-school is starting after Labor Day.  The typical classroom has been adjusted to 2 classrooms with 16 students and 1 classroom with 8 students (all classed are AM classes only.)  

The drinking fountains located on Wings D, E, J, K, L will be replaced with water fill stations, in lieu of a drinking fountains, as they are more sanitary.  Drinking fountains can pose a major health risk during this pandemic.  Fill stations are more earth friendly and encourage users to use refillable water bottles.

The Community Center Campus bathrooms are currently closed to the public; however, teachers and other staff are still on campus and need access. To limit the number of people using a shared space, bathrooms are being designated to individual schools for their private use.  When children return to school having the dedicated bathroom and not having to share with other schools or the general public, will increase safety.  Additionally, having keyless entry allows for unique codes to be provided to each tenant for private access.

The Adult Center is partnering with the Santa Clara County Aging Services Collaborative for their annual “Caregivers Count” Conference.  This is a four-part virtual series beginning Saturday, September 12.

Staff has discussed with me their proposals for the Ainsley Garden. I wanted to provide you with an update and get your feedback. Staff is proposing the “Marry Now, Celebrate Later,” package. This package will offer a 2 hour ceremony in 2020 and an 8 hour reception in 2021. This is a 2 hour only rental with a maximum of 60 people.  This is an option for those whose wedding was cancelled and would like to still have the ceremony on a limited scale.  The fee for this option is the fee listed in the user fee schedule.    

 Staff is also proposing another option of a limited gathering ceremony only wedding package.  The fee would be $400 for Friday or Sunday and $500 for Saturday (based on hourly rates in the fee schedule). This is a 2 hour only rental with max of 60 people.  This proposal is simply to provide an option for those whose wedding was cancelled and would like to still have the ceremony on a limited scale.

August 7, 2020

Measure O Bond Update

On August 5, 2020, staff with the support of the City’s Municipal Advisor, Underwriter, Bond Counsel and others, issued a $20 million series of Measure O General Obligation Bonds.  Demand for this AAA rated issuance was very strong with 3.4 times as many orders received as bonds being sold.  Such strong demand resulted in the City’s financing team being able to adjust its pre-pricing strategy and negotiate even lower interest rates with those investors who had submitted orders.   When City Council authorized the issuance of these bonds on July 21, 2020, staff expected to realize an interest rate of 2.6% on the bond issuance.  Due to favorable market conditions, the City’s strong debt rating, and significant demand, the actual 2020 Measure O Bond issuance obtained an interest rate of 2.3%; thereby resulting in approximately $1.23 million less in debt service costs and savings to Campbell taxpayers over the 30-year term of the bond issuance.  The bond issuance and sale will be finalized on August 19, 2020 and staff, with the support of the City’s Municipal Advisor, is tentatively scheduled to provide a final summary of the sale at the September 15, 2020 Council meeting.

Downtown Update

Staff continues to monitor and make modifications to the Campbell Avenue street closure Downtown.  Temporary parking signs designating 37 parking stalls on the cross streets for “Curbside and Online Order Pickup” were put in place Tuesday.  These parking signs have a 24-minute time limit.  Look for these signs on Central Avenue, First Street, Second Street and Third Street.  View this map to see the locations of these parking zones.   Staff is conducting weekly surveys of the downtown businesses.   Summaries of these surveys will be presented to the Council at the August 18, meeting.  This week we had 25 responses to the survey.  52% experienced some increase in business since the street closure began, 28% experienced a decrease in business and 20% experienced no change.  Attached is a copy of the complete survey including qualitative responses.

Recreation and Community Services Update

The Aging Services Collaborative of Santa Clara County Caregivers Count is hosting their 10^th annual conference.  A virtual four-part conference series from September 12 to October 3 from 10 am to 12 p.m.  This is a free conference for families and friends caring for a loved one.  Topics include:  Emotional Well Being; Paying for Care; Technology Tools and Reducing Stress and Dealing with Parents and Resistance. For more information please visit www.caregiverscount.net  

Visit our list of virtual and online programs to find upcoming activities in the Recreation & Community Services department.  Here is a list of what is being offered:

• Summer Day Camp at JDM wrapped up on 8/7
• Final session of Sports camps at CCC
• Tennis Camp beginning with new Instructor
• Cheerleading Camp
• Lego Camps
• Art Camps
• Swim Lessons (2 more weeks)
• Lap swimming for 18+ by reservation only
• Water Exercise 18+
• Virtual Pilates
• Virtual Body Sculpt
• Virtual Pilates
• Virtual Music Lessons
• Virtual Enhance Fitness 50+
• Virtual Forever Young 50+
• Virtual Sketching & Drawing 50+
• Aqua Aerobics 50+
• Senior Nutrition serving 95 meals a day (turning away approx. 15/day this week)
• Caregivers Count Virtual Conference (flyer attached)
• Museum virtual program beginning in September with “Tasty Tuesdays” and “History at Home” 

Census 2020 Update 

The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and resulting Shelter in Place orders, significantly altered the planned Census 2020 outreach operations which included promotions at community events and Census Kiosk stands with iPads at our City Hall, Community Center and Library facilities. In May 2020, the Census Bureau extended the Census deadline to October 31 from July 31 to mitigate operational delays resulting from COVID-19. However, on August 3, 2020, the Census Bureau announced that it was ending the census operation as of September 30, 2020. Census takers will be out in the neighborhoods as early as this weekend and officially deployed on Tuesday, August 11. They will only visit homes that have not responded, only ask the nine questions that are on the census form and follow public health orders. Although the City’s 74.5% self-response rates is one of the highest in the County, a quarter of households in Campbell have not been counted. The City will utilize its social media platforms to share this information as well as encourage residents that self-response surveys are still live on the Census website. An overview of the census timeline is provided below. 

COVID-19  

The City of Campbell has partnered with the County of Santa Clara to offer COVID-19 testing.  Community testing is available at the Community Center’s Orchard City Banquet Hall the first and third Thursday of each month thru September.   Testing sites are not designated to test individuals with symptoms of COVID-19.  For more information about testing requirements and testing sites, please visit www.sccfreetest.org.

Election Update

The following candidates have submitted their nomination forms to serve on City Council for the City of Campbell’s first district-based election on Tuesday, November 3, 2020:  

Terry Hines              District 1

Susan M. Landry     District 1

Anne Souza            District 1

Carol Hoffman        District 2

Sergio Lopez          District 2

Since the incumbent Councilmember Waterman did not file for candidacy by August 7, the nomination period for District 2 is extended to Tuesday, August 12.

June 5, 2020

The Santa Clara County Health Official has updated the Shelter in Place Order effective today, June 5. This Order allows more businesses to open that could not operate under the May 22 Order and allows more activities to resume. The June 5 Order allows the following businesses to reopen, subject to limitations: 

• Outdoor dining at restaurants and other facilities that prepare and serve food. 
• Retail and shopping centers for in-store shopping. 
• Childcare, summer camps, summer school, and all other educational or recreational programs (including Little League and similar children’s teams) for all children, in stable groups of up to 12 children. 
• All manufacturing, warehousing, and logistics. 
• House cleaning and other no-contact in-home services. 
• Low-contact/no-contact service businesses such as shoe repair, watch repair, and similar services. 
• All pet grooming.

The June 5 Order also allows the following activities (subject to limitations): 

• Outdoor ceremonies and outdoor religious services, in groups no larger than 25. 
• All outdoor recreational activities that do not involve physical contact, including swimming in pools (however this may conflict with the more stringent state order prohibiting swimming pools), hiking, tennis, golf, etc. 
• Households may now participate in following activities with members of one other household, with social distancing: 
• Camping. 
• Drive-in theaters, car-based gatherings, and drive-thru events. 
• Businesses and activities that are not specifically allowed in the Order are prohibited. This generally includes businesses and activities that promote close gatherings, direct personal contact, or prolonged interactions between groups of people; and/or include lots of high-touch equipment, facilities, or games. Prohibited businesses and activities include, but are not limited to, entertainment venues, amusement parks, arcades, bars, indoor dining at restaurants, contact sports, sporting competitions, gyms and indoor fitness facilities, spas, barbers and hair stylists, massage facilities, tanning salons, and other similar businesses.

Consistent with my City services update provided to you during Tuesday’s Council meeting, below is the City operation status update and look forward to recovery organized by each department as we move into Phase Two of the current Shelter in Place Order:

As previously reported, City facilities will remain closed to the public in compliance with the current Santa Clara County Health Order; however, during this closure the City is providing many essential services to the Campbell community.

Staff is generally working remotely through the City’s temporary telework policy or performing their duties at City facilities. Staff that is not assigned a full work week, is utilizing their personal leave balances to compensate for the unworked hours. As the City looks forward to the County revising the Health Order to allow us to open to the public, the City has prepared return to work procedures for all City staff. These procedures will require staff to be screened daily when reporting to work. Staff will also be required to follow certain safety procedures when working in a group setting and/or working with members of the public.

Community Development:

The Community Development Department is fully operational. The only difference from the services we provide now, that were not provided prior to COVID-19, is that the public can’t physically come into a building. The recently implemented online permitting system is working well to allow for continued service to the public. Inspection services continue to be provided and City staff has been supplied with appropriate protective equipment. Meeting with applicants and the public are being conducted virtually or by phone; however, in some cases, in person meetings with applicants is required. Meetings that are conducted by appointment, outside of City Hall, utilize all social distancing protocols and appropriate protective gear.

As the City has continued processing of development applications, public meetings are resuming. For the time being, public meetings will be conducted virtually. Meeting agendas can be viewed from the City’s website at CampbellCA.gov.

Upcoming dates and meetings include:

• Site and Architecture Review Committee, June 9 and June 23
• Planning Commission, June 9, June 23 and July 14

When the County Health Order is revised to allow for the public to enter the City facilities, the City is preparing for a consolidated public service point for planning, building and development services. Public service counters will be equipped with clear plastic shields and have appropriate social distancing and sanitation measures implemented.

Finance Department:

The Finance Department is currently processing payments such as business license renewals and TOT payments through the mail. The department is also working extensively on budget development and working with the City Auditor to prepare for the Comprehensive Annual Financial Report. As we prepare to reopen to the public, Finance is exploring a new business license program that would better integrate with the building permitting system (MGO) and provide opportunity for online renewal and payment.

Human Resources:

Human Resources continues to answer staff questions on new laws such as Emergency Paid Sick Leave and Emergency Family Medical Leave as well as working on budget and labor related issues with all labor groups. Human Resources is critical in preparing employee policies and procedures, such as return to work procedures, when City facilities reopen to the public. Additionally, staff is assisting with payroll related issues, updating work status’, telework agreements, and processing personnel transactions.

Information Technology (IT):

IT is experiencing less issues related to employees working remotely. Staff is focusing on in office desktop maintenance, supporting virtual meeting coordination, the implementation of the Citywide phone system replacement, Recreation system replacement and meeting video broadcasting systems.

Public Safety:

Although the Police Department lobby is closed to the public, most public safety services are fully operational. Citation signoffs are suspended until further notice. PD staff is transitioning away from teleworking and will resume to working their normal shifts in the office. The PD has enough protective equipment for the next 6 months. We are tracking the use of this equipment and making additional purchases, as necessary.

Public Works:

Maintenance Services have resumed. We are experiencing high use of our City parks and open spaces leading to increased solid waste disposal and cleaning of restrooms. All City parks are open; however, play lots, exercise equipment, basketball, handball and the Community Center track remain closed. Staff is evaluating the opening of the track considering the recently revised County Order.

The Street Maintenance section is taking on project work. This reduces contract costs and leverages existing staff to do some work that was previously contracted. Traffic volume is light during this period so street maintenance can be done efficiently using City staff for specific project work.

Engineering Services is currently rotating staff between work at the office and teleworking to continue projects like the all-inclusive playground at John D. Morgan Park and the Winchester street surfacing project.

Recreation and Community Services:

The Adult Center Nutrition program is operating with pick-up only from 11am-12pm Monday-Friday; staff is coordinating food delivery for those in need. Recreation staff is coordinating the brown bag food program delivery to 30 participants.

Staff is conducting limited summer camp training the week of June 8 and has planned to start a reduced and modified program pending budget allocation for any programs after the beginning of the fiscal year, July 1. A limited sports camp and adult fitness class is planned to utilize contractors, not staff, to ensure cost recovery. For any future camp programs, dedicated leaders will be assigned to one group of 12 children. There will be one staff person assigned to 3 groups of 12 to provide additional cleaning and sanitizing support. All staff will wear masks or face shields.

Staff will continue to coordinate well checks on older adults and members of the Adult Center. They will also continue the coordination for food delivery options and other social service needs, as well as, the implementation of the distribution of food at Rosemary and Capri Elementary Schools on Fridays through June 19. Picnic reservations and facility rentals for the Campbell Community Center are cancelled for the month of June. Virtual Recreation activities are launched periodically and will continue through the summer months.

May 8, 2020

The County Office of Emergency Services, along with the County Public Health Department, are requesting assistance with contact tracing.  The County is in the process of rapidly expanding their infrastructure for case investigation and contact tracing.  In order to move from a population-level mitigation strategy of sheltering in place, they must be able to identify cases quickly and break the chains of transmission through isolation, tracing contacts of cases, and quarantine.  To ensure they have the workforce needed to adequately scale this critical work, the County is reaching out to agencies within the County for assistance.  It is anticipated that approximately 700 contact tracers are needed to complete this work across the County.   

They are requesting that government and community partners identify members of their organization willing to be volunteer members of the team they are building. Team members will interview cases, call potential contacts, enter and manage data, and identify resources needed to ensure appropriate follow up and compliance with isolation and quarantine.  The ideal candidates will have health related experience (RN’s, LVN’s, medical assistants, medical and nursing students, etc.), and be able to commit to 32-40 hours a week for at least six months.  For questions please email ContactTracing@eoc.sccgov.org.   

This week, two new testing sites opened at James Lick High School in East San José and Christopher High School in Gilroy.  Both sites are providing testing regardless of insurance or immigration status.  The important message to the community is that the testing criteria has also expanded to include anyone with symptoms, asymptomatic people who live or work around vulnerable populations, and residents who work in a job that puts them in frequent contact with others.  

The Campbell Senior Nutrition Program is serving an average of 90 meals per day.  In response to the increased demand, the County Senior Nutrition Program has approved co-funding for an estimated 1,950 additional meals served from March 16, 2020 to June 30, 2020. There are 23 senior adults who are receiving home delivered meals from the Rotary Club of Campbell.  The Campbell Recreation and Community Service staff continues to work with Campbell CERTS and Home Church volunteers to assist seniors with online grocery (curbside) pick-ups.    

Recreation and Community Services staff recently coordinated the delivery of food boxes from Second Harvest of Silicon Valley to 27 seniors who live within a 5-mile radius of the Community Center.  Volunteers from the Downtown Campbell Support Network and CERTS picked up food boxes from the Campbell United Methodist Church (grocery distribution site) and made home deliveries over the past two days.

April 23, 2020

For the past several weeks the Santa Clara County Public Health Department has recommended that residents cover their nose and mouth when leaving home for essential activities, such as grocery shopping, doctor appointments, and going to the bank. Covering mouth and nose with cloth coverings may reduce transmission when combined with hand washing and reducing person-to-person contacts. It’s time to get creative with your face coverings. Please e-mail us at facecoverings@campbellca.gov with your face covering pictures. 

Tuesday night, the County announced that autopsies performed on three individuals who died at home in February and March revealed that they were positive for SARS-CoV-2. This means that the first local COVID-19 death was about month earlier than originally thought. Since these individuals did not have a travel history linked to the early known spread of the novel coronavirus, community transmission was also likely happening earlier than we thought. As the Medical Examiner-Coroner continues to carefully investigate deaths throughout the County, we anticipate additional deaths from COVID-19 will be identified. 

Yesterday, the Public Health Department updated its Data Dashboard to include the race and ethnicity of confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Santa Clara County. Previously, the County only had definitive information for those who have died from COVID-19, and Public Health staff have been working diligently to fill in the informational gaps. Though race and ethnicity are still unknown for about 17% of confirmed cases, there is now enough data to help target resources and work with community partners on new strategies. 

Santa Clara County’s current number of infections and deaths represent respectively about 6% and 7% of the number of infections and deaths in California. When cases of the novel coronavirus were first detected in the United States back in February, Santa Clara County had two of fifteen cases in the entire nation. Couple that with the information in this chart from the San Francisco Chronicle, and you get a pretty good picture of how well the local interventions are doing in flattening the curve. While we are doing great to flatten the curve, we must stay vigilant in complying with the current “Shelter in Place” Order. The County Health Officer warned that relaxing the Order will increase illness and deaths if we move too fast. The County is looking for more focused measures to disrupt the chains of transmission in place (effective therapeutic treatments, extensive testing and contact tracing, and/or vaccines). 

Support Local Schools During the COVID-19 Pandemic 

The Silicon Valley Community Foundation, in partnership with the San Mateo County and Santa Clara County Office of Education, has established the COVID-19 Education Partnership, an initiative to support the needs of our local county offices of education and school districts through this unprecedented crisis. Funding will expand the capacity of local school districts and the County Offices of Education to address immediate challenges and long-term recovery efforts related to COVID-19, including programs such as social and emotional health and wellness supports for students, distance learning support, emergency childcare centers, and family engagement strategies. 

Family Law Information and Resources 

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the California Supreme Court Chief Justice and California Judicial Council have approved several temporary emergency actions, including the adoption of 13 temporary rules of court. For instance, one Emergency Rule makes it easier for parties to request changes to child, spousal, partner, or family support orders during the State of Emergency, and another rule requires Courts to give parties a way to request renewals for protective and restraining orders. The Santa Clara County Superior Court has created a COVID-19 website to inform attorneys, justice partners, litigants, and the public of Family Law operations during the COVID-19 pandemic. The website includes links to court orders, court division orders and notices, press releases, and hyperlinks to online court services. The limited matters currently being handled by the Court are as follows: 

• Emergency Protective Restraining Orders requested by law enforcement
• Gun Violence Restraining Orders
• Domestic Violence Temporary Restraining Orders (all non-child safety DVTRO’s are being continued)
• Ex parte requests for custody and visitation orders or modifications to custody and visitation orders where child safety is an issue or if a parent is withholding visitation
• Emergency screenings
• Contempt
• Guardianships where child safety is an issue, and 
• Telephonic Meditations

Limited Family Law Departments are open along with the Superior Court’s Self-Help Center. USPS Delivery Changes (updated links) Due to COVID-19, the U.S. Postal Services is making a variety of service changes. Two- and three-day service commitments for First-Class Package Service and Priority Mail is being extended to three- and four-day service. However, overnight and one day Priority Mail will not change. Return to Sender time frames will generally be extended from 15 to 30 days. International shipping has been suspended to many countries. The list of countries with mail service interruption is updated frequently here.

April 17, 2020

The federal government has signed into law several pieces of legislation to provide economic stimulus support to governments and citizens, related to the impacts of COVID-19. The most notable is the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act to provide funding to governments to support COVID-19 response impacts. However, only jurisdictions with populations greater than 500,000 are eligible for direct aid, and it is up to individual states to determine how aid is allocated to cities and counties under this threshold. To provide stimulus support to all local governments, House Resolution (H.R.) 6467 was introduced as the Coronavirus Community Relief Act to provide $250 billion in funding to all local government regardless of population. This is an active bill and the National League of Cities (NLC) has been providing strong advocacy support by engaging with both Congressional leaders and President Trump’s Administration. A similar effort by the NLC is also underway regarding amendments to HR 6201, the Families First Coronavirus Response Act, which created new sick leave and family medical leave requirements on government employers of all sizes. As passed, there is a carve out in this bill that excludes local governments from receiving the tax credits to offset the costs of providing such leave.  The NLC position is that local government has been providing front-line support to citizens in response to COVID-19 impacts and should not have additional layers of bureaucracy or exemptions from direct federal funding support. We are staying informed and engaged as the legislation progresses. 

The “Shelter in Place” public health orders have also impacted the 2020 Census Outreach timeline. Census postcards and questionnaires were mailed on March 12, 2020 as originally planned, but the self-response deadline has been extended to August 14. Currently, the Santa Clara Census committee is anticipating sending out field employees to follow up on non-responsive households on May 28. The most recent state data pertaining to the City’s response rate is available at this link. Our self-response rate (SRR) is 60%, which is above the state’s rate of 48%. The areas of the City with the lowest response rates are in the north and central parts of the City which include higher density housing such as north of Hamilton Avenue, near the Community Center, John D. Morgan Park, Pruneyard, and immediately west of Highway 17 in the Union and McGlincy areas. The City has encouraged residents to participate in the Census via our social media platforms and will continue to do so throughout the upcoming weeks. 

Today, the Santa Clara County Emergency Operation Center conducted a briefing for elected officials. County Health Officer, Dr. Sara Cody, spoke about the growing information on the transmission of the disease. This information indicates that the spread of the disease is significant from those may not show symptoms. In addition, the transmission from people a day or two before they show symptoms is significant. Because of this, it is paramount to cover your face when you leave the home. THIS IS AN URGENT RECOMMENDATION. She also noted that face coverings are not recommended during exercise or for young children under 6 years old. 

Staff continues to develop and work on “Virtual Recreation” and is working on interactive virtual events to continue to engage participants. 

The Senior Nutrition program continues to serve meals to seniors in need. Prior to the shutdown, approximately 40-45 seniors were being served daily. Since the “Shelter in Place” Order, this has risen to 70 meals per day with 15 of those meals being delivered by Campbell Rotary volunteers. Staff has worked diligently over the past two weeks to do “well check” calls to approximately 1200 Adult Center members and identify those with additional needs such as grocery or prescription assistance. Staff is vetting local non-profits to provide unique grocery shopping services. Additionally, a newsletter was mailed to all 1200 members with information and resources for the membership. The Second Harvest Food Bank (SHFB) provides a “Brown Bag” program in Santa Clara County. Their distribution site is located at the Campbell United Methodist Church at Hamilton and Winchester. SHFB provides additional “brown bags” but does not have the resources to deliver. Staff is working to coordinate volunteers to deliver “brown bag” services to Adult Center members who qualify.

April 15, 2020

This morning the Campbell Police Department (CPD) participated in thanking our health care workers at Valley Medical Center (VMC). Uniformed police and fire personnel from around the County lined the street at the employee entrance at VMC.  In a show of support for their hard work and dedication during this crisis, our officers helped thank the hospital staff during their shift change.  CPD will also be participating in a similar event this coming Friday morning at Good Samaritan Hospital.  You can view media coverage of this show of gratitude here. 

CPD continues to receive extremely positive feedback about our COVID birthday celebration drive-bys. We have received over 100 requests, and our Communications and Public Engagement Coordinator, Letysia Moresco, has done an amazing job with the scheduling. The response from parents, kids, and their neighbors has been overwhelming.  Our officers are also enjoying being a part of these well-wishes.   

Today, Mayor Landry and I participated in the Campbell Chamber of Commerce’s Monthly Virtual Meeting. Questions from the Chamber included inquiries about financial impacts to the City and exploring ways to accelerate recovery for businesses. The City’s COVID web page contains links to resources for the business community and is accessible via this link.  

April 14, 2020

Today, the Santa Clara County Emergency Operations Center provided a briefing for elected officials. I know that several of the Campbell City Councilmembers participated on the call.  There is not a lot of new information to share today. However, Santa Clara County Health Officer, Dr. Sara Cody spoke about the beneficial impacts that the “Shelter in Place” Order has provided. She warned that we are not out of the woods yet, and that we all still need to strictly adhere to the “Shelter in Place” Order. She also spoke generally about what is needed to be achieved prior to relaxing the Shelter in Place. First, we need sufficient testing capacity for Santa Clara County.  Although it was recognized that new resources are increasing the ability to conduct more testing, it will not likely be possible to test everyone. The County will need to come up with strategies for testing asymptomatic residents, conducting testing surveillance of those in group settings, and identifying clusters of confirmed cases. Dr. Cody also spoke to the need to increase the County Health Department’s capacity to conduct thorough case and contact investigations for all confirmed cases. This labor-intensive method is a traditional method used by public health departments to contain the spread of disease.    

The County Supportive Housing Director, Ky Le, also spoke about the support for the homeless population and about the County’s efforts to increase shelter beds and non-congregate housing for those at risk and those testing positive for COVID-19. The County has created a crisis hotline for questions related to supportive housing and the homeless.  The hotline number is 408-278-6420. 

On Tuesday, April 21, 2020, the Campbell City Council and members of the public will be provided an analysis of the COVID-19 financial impacts to the City of Campbell. City staff will also be providing an update on the corrective measures already put into place.  Staff will also suggest some budget strategies for next fiscal year. The public is encouraged to participate. The City Council meeting agendas can be accessed from the City’s web site at City Council agendas. 

On Wednesday, April 15, at 12 PM (noon) Campbell Mayor Susan Landry and City Manager Brian Loventhal will participate in the Campbell Chamber of Commerce virtual luncheon meeting.  At this meeting, the Mayor will be providing her thoughts on COVID-19 and be available for a question and answer session.  The public can register for this meeting at Campbell Chamber Virtual Meeting.  Advanced registration is required. 

April 13, 2020

Today, the City of Campbell Emergency Operations Center (EOC) conducted our weekly planning meeting.  The purpose of these EOC meetings are to provide and receive updates from the various areas of responsibility within the EOC and to discuss and update the objectives for the next one-week planning period. There were no significant updates reported. The EOC objectives for the next week remain the same and are as follows: 

• Receive situation updates; 
• Determine and continue to monitor the level of City operations needed to respond to the event;  
• Determine and continue to monitor staffing needs to achieve objectives; 
• Provide coordination for the continuity of governmental operations; 
• Conduct regular meetings and/or check-ins with City departments and key staff; 
• Ensure viable meeting alternatives for future meetings of the City Council; 
• Communicate updates to the community; 
• Provide updates to the City Council, as necessary; 
• Continue to identify resources for public and private assistance.

COVID-19 Cases in Santa Clara County  

As of April 13, 2020, the County of Santa Clara Public Health Department (Public Health) announced 6 new deaths from COVID-19, bringing the total number of deaths to 60 in Santa Clara County. Public Health also reported 45 new cases, bringing our total number of confirmed cases to 1,666. That represents a 10.73% positivity rate across 15,529 total tests with 193 testing results pending. There are 29 cases reported in the City of Campbell. 

More data can be found through the Public Health Department’s Data Dashboards.  

April 10, 2020

Today, the Santa Clara County Emergency Operation Center conducted a briefing for elected officials. Dr. Sara Cody, Santa Clara County Health Officer spoke about statistical reporting and the County’s COVID-19 dashboard. The Dashboard provides case, hospital, and lab testing data. As reported yesterday, the County is now publishing case count by city. The County is also able to provide race and ethnicity data for reported deaths from COVID-19.  

Dr. Cody stressed the importance of limiting interactions when you must leave the house. Although we are seeing encouraging signs from the “Shelter in Place” Order, our community needs to continue to be vigilant. 

The Health Officer also issued a new Order this week to gather information regarding inventories of personal protective equipment (PPE) and ventilators. By April 15, the Order requires all individuals or private organizations that have large stockpiles of PPE’s and ventilators to complete the online survey 

This Order only applies to large stockpiles. An example of items to be reported include: 

• Nitrile or vinyl gloves (if more than 5,000 items) 
• N95 masks (if more than 500 items) 
• Surgical or procedure masks (if more than 500 items) 
• Safety goggles (if more than 100 items) 
• Face shields (if more than 100 items) 
• Gallon or larger hand sanitizers that are recognized by the Centers for Disease Control as effective in combatting COVID-19 (if more than 10 containers) 
• All ventilators (regardless of condition) 

Additionally, the Santa Clara County Office of Supportive Housing recently announced that they have allocated $900,000 to support the area’s disadvantaged who need housing and/or shelter. Such money could be directed to assisting existing homeless shelters and safe-park programs. City staff is now reaching out to local churches who provide safe-park programs to encourage them to apply for this newly released funding assistance program administered by the County. For more information, contact the Santa Clara County Office of Supportive Housing at (408) 278- 6400. 

April 9, 2020

Today the West Valley Mayors and City Managers group conducted a virtual meeting to discuss a concept for creating a rental assistance pool of funds for the cities of Campbell, Cupertino, Los Gatos, Monte Sereno and Saratoga. City staff from the various cities have explored community service groups that could serve this function, but the discussion today highlighted that West Valley Community Services has a 15% administrative fee overhead. West Valley staff is also working with the Community Development Block Grant program to explore funding potential from that program. Today, the Mayors and City Managers discussed the concept of creating a fund that would be administered by one city without administrative fees (or reduced fees). The Campbell City Council will be discussing the financial impacts of COVIC-19 at the April 21 Council meeting. One of the issues to be raised is to get direction from the Council on whether they would reallocate existing funding from another program to a rental assistance program and to provide some guidance as to potential funding for next fiscal year.  

Today the Federal Reserve released $500 billion for municipal loan program as part of the $2.3 trillion package. This is not free money, but it will be explored by City staff to determine if it would offset lost revenue during this emergency.  

Late yesterday, the County Public Risk Communication Officer published a Notice that the Santa Clara County Emergency Operation Center will soon be adding the number of COVID-19 cases by city to the dashboard hosted on the Public Health website.  

The following statement from the EOC provides context for the city COVID-19 case data. The number of cases in a city, especially for cities with a low number, should not create complacency and everybody should continue following the County Health Officer orders and guidance. These personal actions are imperative in order to reduce the spread of the virus and maintain the health and safety of our communities. Links to additional information resources are listed following the EOC statement. Please feel free to contact me with any questions or comments.  

County of Santa Clara EOC Statement:  

Community transmission is believed to be widespread throughout the County. Limited testing capacity means that case counts represent only a small portion of cases within each city. Additionally, new information about transmission occurring among individuals who have no symptoms or have yet to develop symptoms reinforce the need for all residents to continue following the “Shelter in Place” Order, observing strict social distancing (maintaining 6 foot distance from non-family members) and practicing hand and respiratory hygiene (proper handwashing and wearing of face masks when conducting essential activities outside the home). 

The City has received several questions about the possibility of reopening the Campbell Farmers’ Market. Yesterday, I had a telephone call with the organizer for the market. I made it very clear that the burden was on him to prepare a proposal that would ensure the City that all of the health and operational concerns were addressed. I also asked about his willingness to consider an alternate location. The organizer told me that his practice, in other cities, was to post appropriate signage and give guidance to the vendors, but that it depends on the attendees adhering to and complying with the social distancing standards. He did not give me a level of confidence that they would monitor, or even attempt to enforce, the restrictions. He also declined an alternate location stating that he would prefer to continue in the usual location but would be willing to only use two blocks of the downtown area. None of his responses gave me confidence that if we allowed the Farmers’ Market to open, that we would not have to shut it down again for lack of compliance. Also, we are speaking with staff in Sunnyvale and Palo Alto to ascertain their satisfaction with the compliance at the markets (run by the same organizer) in their respective cities. Sunnyvale disclosed that a member of the public complained at their Council meeting last night about a lack of compliance at the Sunnyvale market. Absent a significant change in approach, the market will remain closed in Campbell during the “Shelter in Place” Order. 

Today the Santa Clara County EOC update conference call was conducted. I know some Councilmembers participated in the call. The County will be sending out a comprehensive update via email later this evening that I will forward on to the Council when I receive it. One of the more significant portions of the update was about the statistical modeling. Dr. Sara Cody, spoke about the “Shelter in Place” Order being effective and that the expected case count at the end of this month was projected at 50,000 prior to the “Shelter in Place” Order. That number is now anticipated to be between 2,500 and 12,000 cases by the end of the month. This is good news, but continued efforts to comply with all of the precautions are still needed to ensure this trend continues. 

April 8, 2020

The City has received several questions about the possibility of reopening the Campbell Farmers’ Market. Yesterday, I had a telephone call with the organizer for the market. I made it very clear that the burden was on him to prepare a proposal that would ensure the City that all of the health and operational concerns were addressed. I also asked about his willingness to consider an alternate location. The organizer told me that his practice, in other cities, was to post appropriate signage and give guidance to the vendors, but that it depends on the attendees adhering to and complying with the social distancing standards. He did not give me a level of confidence that they would monitor, or even attempt to enforce, the restrictions. He also declined an alternate location stating that he would prefer to continue in the usual location but would be willing to only use two blocks of the downtown area. None of his responses gave me confidence that if we allowed the Farmers’ Market to open, that we would not have to shut it down again for lack of compliance. Also, we are speaking with staff in Sunnyvale and Palo Alto to ascertain their satisfaction with the compliance at the markets (run by the same organizer) in their respective cities. Sunnyvale disclosed that a member of the public complained at their Council meeting last night about a lack of compliance at the Sunnyvale market. Absent a significant change in approach, the market will remain closed in Campbell during the “Shelter in Place” Order.  

Today the Santa Clara County EOC update conference call was conducted. I know some Councilmembers participated in the call. The County will be sending out a comprehensive update via email later this evening that I will forward on to the Council when I receive it. One of the more significant portions of the update was about the statistical modeling. Dr. Sara Cody, spoke about the “Shelter in Place” Order being effective and that the expected case count at the end of this month was projected at 50,000 prior to the “Shelter in Place” Order. That number is now anticipated to be between 2,500 and 12,000 cases by the end of the month. This is good news, but continued efforts to comply with all of the precautions are still needed to ensure this trend continues.