LA City Council Returns To In-Person Meetings For First Time Since March 2020
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) — The Los Angeles City Council Tuesday resumed in-person meetings for the first time since March 2020, but members of the public are still only able to participate virtually.
According to Council President Nury Martinez's office, council members were allowed inside chambers with one staff member, and all attendees must be vaccinated.
"It's so great to have you all back in council chambers after 14 very long and difficult months," Martinez said as the meeting began Tuesday morning. "In a little over a year, we've already lost 24,000 Angelenos to COVID-19. Some of these are our neighbors, our friends and family members, so it goes without saying that this year has been extremely, extremely difficult."
Martinez thanked council members' staff for working throughout the pandemic.
"... Whether you were passing out food, or helping small businesses, or distributing essential supplies in your district, you showed up every single day," she said.
During the pandemic, council members held meetings via teleconference and the return to City Hall was set for the same day that California officials scrapped the Blueprint for a Safer Economy.
The City Council also temporarily suspended Friday meetings and only met on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Friday meetings are set to resume this week, Martinez's office said.
A date for City Hall to reopen to the public has not been set.