Skip to main content

To: City of Hollywood, FL

Tell Hollywood, FL Mayor Josh Levy: Freeze Rent & Mortgages

Dear Mayor Levy & Respected Commissioners of Hollywood,

With the closing of retail stores, restaurants, bars, small businesses, and major corporate offices state and nation-wide over the last week, many hardworking people will be left jobless for a month or more. Given the amount of uncertainty surrounding the COVID-19 crisis, we can't be sure when life will return back to "normal."

In order to support our communities during this difficult time, we are demanding a rent moratorium NOW in Broward County and in surrounding areas in order to help ease the economic impact of sudden joblessness and income loss being experienced by so many through no fault of their own. Small Business owners, Service workers, Hospitality workers, and more across the state understand the importance of social-distancing, self-isolation, and flattening the curve.

We are now asking our community and elected officials to understand that in order for these policies to be effective, special consideration must be given to those who will bear the economic burden of our response to a pandemic.

Why is this important?

During the COVID-19 crisis, we all have a responsibility towards our communities to keep ourselves healthy and avoid situations that can spread the virus. As of March 17th, the state of Florida will close all retail stores, bars, nightclubs and restaurants in order to help us uphold that responsibility, and most other businesses are asking teams to work remotely, or to pause work altogether. While this is a step in the right direction regarding public health, the effects of these sweeping business closures affect the livelihood of thousands of Florida residents that rely on their paychecks to make ends meet. Without a plan in place to supplement the income of these workers and small business owners, and with no guarantee that unemployment benefits will provide the relief people need in this difficult time, we demand a moratorium on rent collection NOW. Hard-working people are going to suffer at the expense of the greater good. While we don't deny the importance of instituting these closures, we would be ashamed and heartbroken to watch our government let people who are living paycheck to paycheck face evictions, blows to their credit, homelessness, or be backed into a corner financially through no fault of their own.

As a full-time small business owner in the retail industry, my sole source of income has been 100% compromised as retail businesses left and right are experiencing disruptions to supply chains, sudden halts in customer traffic, and steep declines in revenue. We need the Miami-Ft Lauderdale Metroplex and the state of Florida as a whole, to put a moratorium on rent NOW in order to preserve the livelihood of so many hardworking people in the retail, restaurant, and entertainments industries, and in other affected industries during this time of crisis.

Updates

2020-03-23 17:59:48 -0400

10 signatures reached