The Long Beach City Council could resume in-person meetings starting June 15 after most of California’s COVID-19 restrictions are expected to be lifted by state health officials, city officials said Thursday.

Mayor Robert Garcia said that the request has already been made to the city manager’s office and he’s hopeful that an announcement can be made soon, but it likely won’t be before June 15.

“We’d like to be there as soon as possible,” Garcia said, adding that the city clerk and city unions still have a process to complete.

City Hall and other public buildings including the City Council chambers have been closed since March 2020 when the city announced its first COVID-19 shutdowns.

A city memo released in April said that employee associations were noticed on March 31 of potential changes to their work environments associated with a return to in-person meetings and that the “meet and confer” process with them would be completed with changes implemented at the “earliest practicable time.”

The state is just over three weeks away from an expected lifting of most COVID-19 restrictions. The city is currently in the state’s “yellow” tier of reopening, the least restrictive tier in the state due to Los Angeles County’s low transmission rate of COVID-19.

The county and the city have also had large success with vaccine distribution. About 59% of county residents over 16 are partially vaccinated and over 62% of that demographic in Long Beach have received at least one dose.

State officials have already indicated that June 15 will be the date that it adopts recent guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on allowing fully vaccinated persons to stop wearing masks in most settings.

Long Beach Director of Health and Human Services Kelly Colopy said that June 15 is the focus for meetings resuming in-person because the state’s guidance being lifted could make it easier to have gatherings.

“Right now, we’re still having people try to work from different places,” Colopy said.

Colopy and Garcia did not comment on what kind of modifications the city might require for in-person attendance at council meetings after June 15.

The Los Angeles City Council announced earlier this month that it would be resuming in-person meetings June 15.

The LA meetings will have some modifications though. Council members will only be allowed to bring one staff member with them and proof of vaccination will be required for anyone inside the chambers.

Over the past few weeks multiple Long Beach council members have been seen participating in the meetings from their City Hall offices, but the full body has yet to meet inside the Council Chambers where city employees, including the City Clerk and her staff, conduct the meetings.

City officials have said for months that they were working on plans to bring both the council and members of the public back to in-person meetings, but meetings have continued to be held remotely.

The city switched to video meetings after nearly a year of only providing still photos while members of the council spoke. That change came after Councilman Al Austin requested in February that the city work on plan to bring the council members back to in-person meetings.

Other city facilities have reopened recently with the city resuming issuing permits in person in early May and last week opened up reservations for picnic areas and amphitheaters. This week city libraries reopened.

The city’s “yellow” tier status allows for indoor gatherings at 50% capacity and for government services to resume with modifications. Most indoor gathering guidance listed by the state caps attendance at 50%, and strongly discourages it.

However, the state’s “yellow” tier guidance allows for indoor seated live events and performances. Those rules allow up to 300 people to attend with masks required. If all guests show proof of a negative COVID-19 test result or proof of vaccination, up to 750 people could attend.

The Long Beach council chambers has 254 seats.

Jason Ruiz covers City Hall and politics for the Long Beach Post. Reach him at [email protected] or @JasonRuiz_LB on Twitter.