Rialto City Council extends citywide local emergency, plans to reopen June 1

During a virtual meeting on April 14, Rialto City Council extended its citywide local emergency until at least May 31.

“City of Rialto’s public counters will be closed through May 31, God willing we will have a reopening date on June 1,” said City Manager Rod Foster.

Between now and the next council meeting on April 28, city staff will generate a progress edition magazine, which will possess COVID-19 information for city staff and residents.

“At our next meeting, we will work towards coordinating some type of Fourth of July event, we will report back in two weeks on the feasibility of this item,” continued Foster.

Also, in the meantime, city staff will be coordinating a plan and utilize resources to protect the safety and health of its grocers,” Foster said.

When Foster mentioned the full functionality and staffing of the city manager’s office, police and fire department, Mayor Deborah Robertson said, “First off I would like to thank all of our city employees who are working through this public health crisis. I would like to send a special thank you to our fire, police and community services department for being present in the community and adjusting through these uncertain times.”

Robertson also shared how pleased she was to witness community members helping one another as she reflected on an incident she witnessed where a helpful police officer offered an extra face mask to a shopper at the Rialto Home Depot.

“I am so pleased to witness such helpful acts between community members during times like this. It’s so important,” concluded Robertson.

Another area in which the city has been negatively impacted is by loss of revenue and jobs through its locally owned and operated businesses.

“We want to remind the community to continue to support and shop at the small businesses within our community, many of the corporate businesses will be able to recover; most of our small businesses will not. They definitely need the support of the community during these times,” said City Treasurer Edward Carrillo.

For more information visit, yourrialto.com.