Colorado Auto Dealers Association



Governor and cabinet host teleconference to preview “Safer at Home”April 25, 2020At 3:30 p.m. today, CADA joined a teleconference with Governor Polis and senior cabinet and business leaders to learn more about the transition to “Safer at Home” (Phase 2). If you’ve read our previous “Don’t Get Too Excited About Phase 2” article, there are few positive surprises ahead.?The Governor’s office has drafted this Phase 2 around six guiding principles to stem the transmission of COVID-19. Those are to suppress the virus, conduct testing/containment, provide protections for those at-risk populations, ensure the ability of the health care system to handle demand, create ‘sustainable’ social-distancing policies and ongoing monitoring and evaluation of those policies.??The most relevant of these is the monitoring and evaluation, which means that based on transmissions and hospitalizations, the step down to Phase 2 may be reversed to Stay at Home (Phase 1 level), before it is further stepped down to Phase 3.Before touching the auto industry specifically, it is important to understand how counties may augment the State of Colorado’s Executive Order (EO). Counties have three options regarding the Executive Order:They could do nothing and allow the state order to control the county. Without permission from the state, they could create or extend the counties’ stay-at-home executive orders, based on local public health information. Denver and the metro-area counties have elected this option (Denver, Jefferson, Adams, Arapahoe, Boulder and Broomfield).If a jurisdiction wants to open more quickly than the state, it can submit a plan based on local conditions to be approved or rejected by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) — with feedback from local hospitals — and approval from the county’s local governance body, such as Board of County Commissioners. This could become an issue in Weld and Mesa counties.?If a county does not follow proper procedures, it will be in violation of the law. This could trigger action from state agencies to issue a cease-and-desist order against unlawfully open businesses, will jeopardize the county’s eligibility for emergency grants from the state and may elicit civil or criminal remedies through the District Attorney or state Attorney Generals’ office. The state is also prepared to take licensing action against businesses open in violation of the order, as they are licensed through the Colorado Department of Regulatory Affairs (DORA) and not the counties.?Knowing that the state is articulating this level of seriousness on enforcing the order through licensing actions and civil remedies, dealers are advised that if they are in a county that is attempting to open early, the dealer bears the risk of the decision to reopen with the county’s blessing.??Those dealers in counties that are electing to extend their own stay-at-home orders (Denver, Jefferson, Adams, Arapahoe, Boulder and Broomfield) should not change their current operations until the local order expires. Dealerships in those counties are effectively still under county stay-at-home orders two more weeks, until May 8.?Where does this leave dealers in counties that are not taking action and adopting the state mandates?CADA recommends those dealers not change current business practices for now. While the state is easing restrictions, the Motor Vehicle Dealer Board (MVDB) has not – yet. The MVDB Emergency Rule on April 3 continues to apply. That rule requires that showrooms be closed. It does, however, allow remote sales with in-person deliveries, as dealers have been doing for the past three weeks. CADA is in communication with the MVDB to advocate for revisiting the April 3 rule, to bring it into parity with the latest Governor Executive Order, due to be released Sunday, April 26. That means MVDB will need to create a NEW emergency rule to replace the existing one.??Ultimately, our next action will be to get the MVDB to approve new protocols for opening showrooms as soon as possible after May 1. Opening dealership showrooms, allowing appointments or ‘taking a number’ for walk-ins are the absolute highest priorities for CADA. ?For those dealerships in counties that have extended to May 8 (or beyond), they will not be able to open showrooms until at least Monday, May 9, and only then if the new MVDB rule is in place. Until then, dealership showrooms will need to continue to operate as we have so far through April. Doing any more would violate the MVDB current rule, until replaced or eliminated.?Additionally, under Phase 2, vulnerable or “at-risk” populations will still be under a stay-at-home executive order, even as the rest of the state goes to “Safer at Home.” The moment an employee shows symptoms of illness, he or she should be sent home. If you recall, the state provides for four days of paid emergency sick leave to give that employee the opportunity to get tested for coronavirus or COVID-19.?The state will meet with various industries over the next week for directive guidance on the new order. CADA is in discussions with the Governor’s office through the Auto Industry Division and Colorado Department of Transportation.?However, since the new order is no longer the limitation for dealers, we do not expect many revelations from that meeting. We will keep you updated on our conversations with the MVDB as we work to modify and update the current Emergency Rule and open dealership showrooms.?For more information on the State’s response to COVID-19, visit?Covid19.COVIDCONCERNS.?For information through CADA about this process (status, direction, expectations and results), please contact:?Matthew Groves????????????Matthew.Groves@colorado.auto303.282.1449?Tim JacksonTim.Jackson@colorado.auto303.282,1448?Frequently Asked Questions:?Can I open my showroom on May 1?At this stage, NO, unless and until the MVDB changes its Emergency Rule, which mandates that showrooms must remain closed. We are currently working toward amending that rule.What if one of my employees shows signs of illness?You must immediately send that employee home. This is actually included in the Governor’s Executive Order. The state requires four days of paid sick leave so the employee can get tested for COVID and learn the results. If found positive, the employer can guide the employee to a state assistance program.Can we still conduct sales by appointment??Yes. The way you were doing sales last week – on-line or remote leads and in-person deliveries by appointment – still works, because we remain under the same emergency rule from the MVDB.?Why is the used dealership down the road operating as normal?If their showroom is open, it is illegally open. CADA only publishes its recommendations to new car dealers.Who is enforcing the Executive Order??More people than you’d think. Local and state law enforcement possess the ability to enforce. However, primary enforcement comes from Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) and local public health officers. Either of them can issue cease-and-desist (or eviction) notifications to shut down a dealership.How does this affect Denver metro dealers?The Governor’s executive order, on its own, changes nothing. Denver, Jefferson, Adams, Arapahoe, Boulder and Broomfield counties continue to be under stay-at-home orders issued by each county.What if I have an employee that is over 65 or is an ‘at risk’ group for COVID-19?That employee is still subject to a stay-at-home order – not the new Safer at Home Order. Guidance is forthcoming on how to treat this scenario.?CADA-recommended protocols for Safer at Home – Phase 2?How dealers can comply?As we look toward relaxing sales restrictions, we think the following baseline suggestions should be implemented as part of a Phase 2 transition for dealers. CADA views the following as responsible:Maintain a sales staff of no more than 50 percent pre-COVID-19 numbers.Create a series of sanitized and protected “sales areas,” similar to where deliveries occur now – such as individual rooms, perhaps off your showroom floor, to conduct ‘by appointment’ or ‘by number’ in-person sales.Establish a procedure where when one appointment takes place, the room is immediately cleaned before a subsequent appointment begins. Note that when done properly, this cleaning can take up to 30 minutes. This may mean having more sales areas than you have sales staff on any one shift to allow for adequate cleaning and a proper rotation of appointments.While use of masks is mandatory, we recommend the presence of sanitizer available for any employees or customers who wish to use them.?A supply of sanitized pens, with cleaning of pens before each subsequent user.Implement CDC protocols during sales activity the same way it is being implemented in “critical” service and parts activity.Signs in common areas of the workplace to discourage non-work-related congregations.?This memo should not discourage dealers from going further if you so choose. These are merely best practices suggested for compliance purposes.? ................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download