Dear Team Carlsbad,
Happy first day in the orange tier! It’s an exciting milestone in this COVID-19 response and recovery time as our county’s case rate, hospitalizations and ICU numbers continue to steadily decline.
While the orange tier means increased capacity for some businesses, it does not change any of our operations or reopening plans at this time. The occupancy levels, hours and limited in-person services we highlighted last week remain the same.
Expanded in-person services started this week
This week the Safety Center, community centers, Leo Carrillo Ranch Park’s historic structures and visitor center, libraries and Cannon Art Gallery expanded their in-person services and some indoor camps and classes. From the feedback I’ve heard, it’s going well so far and there’s an exciting buzz in the air from both the community and staff.
Kids and the sound of their laughter are back in our city’s community areas! And even though masks are still required, you can sense the smiles happening behind the masks. Kudos to staff for continuing to provide these valuable community services. Many of them have still been working on-site for the past year.
Starting next week, Faraday will reopen for some in-person services:
The building, planning and engineering counter will be open by appointments only, two days a week
The Faraday cashier will open, two days a week
You can see more details on what’s opening and when on this dashboard. Once we get all the way through our first wave of reopening some in-person services, we will revisit our plans to see if any modifications or improvements should be made.
When we are ready to open more in-person services, we will still follow a gradual phased approach to make sure we have the necessary resources in place to protect the health and safety of you and the public. We are going to be as flexible as we can, so you are supported through this transition and have time to prepare.
If you support the in-person city services that have or will be opening, please coordinate with your supervisor to determine your work schedule, safety protocols and other preparations.
Reopening information hub
As a reminder, we have developed an online reopening hub where you can get all the latest information, download signs you may need for your work area, get answers to commonly asked questions and submit any new questions you have. Please bookmark it for easy reference.
Employee cases
Thankfully cases are slowing down among city employees as well. Since my last report out on employee cases on March 26, we have had only one new positive case with no workplace exposures.
Thank you for doing your part to protect others. Masking up, washing your hands, keeping your distance and getting vaccinated when it’s your turn is making a huge difference in our community.
Vaccine eligibility
Regardless of age, emergency services workers and food and agriculture workers are eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine. If your specific role supports one of these areas, please reference the documentation you may need to show at your appointment.
Otherwise, those ages 50 and older are the latest group of people eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine. Beginning April 15, the general population 16 years and older will be eligible.
COVID-19 appointments are still going quickly. Here’s a list of appointment sites to schedule an appointment.
200,000 items and counting
Our libraries recently reached an exciting milestone – more than 200,000 items have been checked out through the library’s curbside delivery service across all three locations. Great timing as it’s also National Library Week, an opportunity to recognize how libraries are an integral part of our lives, offering lifelong learning and cultural enrichment.
In a challenging year, it’s amazing to see how truly valuable these resources are to our community, as seen from the Facebook comments below.
So many of our city departments and teams are also doing incredible work during this time. If your team has a success story to share, I want to hear about it. Email your stories and any pictures to communications@carlsbadca.gov.
Retire old American flags
Do you have an old American flag that you want to properly dispose of? Staff can drop off flags to be retired at Fire Station #1, 1275 Carlsbad Village Drive. There is a plastic bin at the northeast corner where they may be deposited while awaiting proper destruction. Please note this location is only appropriate for city personnel to use, not the public.
If you have any questions regarding flag disposal or destruction, please contact Fire Administration at 760-931-2141.
Transitioning together
Life post-COVID is looking more and more optimistic. It’s exciting, yet also comes with its own challenges and readjustments.
The past 13 months have not been easy. But I want to thank you for your leadership. I know it’s not always acknowledged by the community, but I see and acknowledge your hard work, sacrifices and continued dedication to serving our community. These coming months come with more transitions, but we’ll do it together, as team Carlsbad.
Please remember you have access to some important health and wellness resources. Take a look, bookmark this page or even print a copy to have on hand in case you ever need additional support.
And as always, I encourage you to take advantage of other professional and personal development trainings. Upcoming trainings include:
How to affect change in a difficult environment, April 14
Cloud storage in Microsoft 365, April 15
MS Teams chats and meetings, April 20
How to make your writing more effective, April 22
How to be an inclusive leader, April 23
Miss my last update? Read it here.