Barbara Ferraro, our Club Treasurer Charley’s spouse, was elected to the Rancho Palos Verdes City Council last November. She had previously been on the City Council, and is a long-time high school Spanish teacher in Palos Verdes. She spoke of the new challenges to the City, including impact of the Pandemic that began early this year.
 
The City had to hire a new City Manager this year, and she says he is very organized and capable. There have been peaceful demonstrations at the Trump National Golf Club in our City (no tear gas or National Guard troops). The City implemented a program of taking food to first responders (Fire & Sherriff’s Depts, etc). City parks were reopened on May 7, and City Hall is also open now.
 
The City is trying to support local businesses as they begin to reopen. They can request a refund of their business license fees this year. “RPV Together” encourages citizens to shop locally for a while. There are some vacancies on the City staff, which will not be filled soon. RPV will still have a budget surplus at the end of its fiscal year June 30. The Terranea Resort in RPV closed in March but may reopen by the end of June, which would help the City budget, and Trump may reopen soon for dining.
 
As businesses start to reopen, facial covering and social distancing are needed, to “protect others” who may be more vulnerable than we are. Barbara also spoke of the virtual-classroom challenges in the schools, where not all students have equal access, and parents are challenged to find extra time for supervising their academic activities. Extra-curricular activities have been shut down, with no definite ending time-line.