Hello, District 4 Residents!
The last 12 months have been challenging but, as we move into the Orange Tier and work to get COVID-19 vaccinations into as many arms as we can, we continue to move towards physical, emotional and economic recovery for our community.
To everyone who is helping our community get to the other side of this pandemic, thank you.
Here is a quick summary of actions taken at the March Board of Supervisors meetings.
At the March 9 meeting, the Board of Supervisors received two reports regarding a referral I made during my first year as a Supervisor -- addressing childcare for County employees. These reports will be brought to the Children, Families, and Seniors Committee where we can have further discussions on this and make some recommendations for next steps.
As we’ve all seen, the pandemic has laid bare the need for quality child care options to support our essential workers. I’d like for us, the County, to become the standard-bearer of supporting our workforce in this way on an ongoing basis.
We know it’s a win-win-win: a win for our employees, particularly women (and I noted that more than 2/3 of our workforce are women and the “overwhelming majority” of participants in the focus groups were women), a win for the County in productivity and being an employer of choice, and – of course – a win for the children who will reap lifelong benefits that come along with access to early high-quality care.
Given the well-documented economic impact of childcare on business productivity, we should be acting with urgency. When our employees are absent due to breakdowns in childcare arrangements, we cannot provide optimal services to the tens of thousands of clients who rely on county programs and services every day and must focus on providing these services, especially now.
FEE RELIEF FOR SMALL BUSINESSES
The Board unanimously approved permit fee relief for many small businesses across the County at the March 9 meeting.
The approved fee relief will provide targeted financial assistance to our smallest, most vulnerable business owners, many of whom are women, immigrants, and people of color. The criteria target the grocery stores, restaurants, fitness facilities, and some personal care services that have been the most impacted and endured the most substantial financial hardships during this health and economic crisis.
County health inspections will still be required for targeted businesses to operate but those businesses will not be billed for those inspections. This relief will address some of the imbalances that are present in our economic, political, and social structures so that we can continue to work towards a more fair and equitable recovery and ongoing shared prosperity.
MARCH FOR MEALS
This has been a challenging year but, even amongst the darkest moments, there was light in seeing our community come together to serve one another.
In the last 12 months (March 2020 to March 2021), The Health Trust has served 360,764 meals to 1,228 clients in Santa Clara County, compared to their pre-pandemic numbers: 107,000 annual meals served to approximately 600 clients. They saw a 500% increase in meal delivery during the health crisis.
MEASURE A DEVELOPMENT
D4 residents have let me know repeatedly that it is important to them to be informed regarding potential new developments and to have the opportunity to provide input at appropriate times in any forward movement of projects.
I will continue to inform the community about this development as more information becomes available.
BOARD-INITIATED SPONSORSHIPS
My shared referral with Supervisor Wasserman to amend criteria for Board-initiated sponsorships was approved at the March 23 Board of Supervisors meeting.
I am concerned about the impact of the pandemic on our non-profit community. I really value our ecosystem of community partners and want to ensure they can continue delivering on their missions.
This proposal is NOT about limiting funding to the community. It is about improving transparency, fairness, consistency, and timeliness.
There are numerous events we fund on an annual basis and for those types of recurring activities, I directed the County Executive take responsibility for reaching out to the organizations that sponsor those events, ask well in advance whether they intend to seek funding, and maintain a budget each year that is sufficient to fund those regular events that we have already determined to have significant public value. We can eliminate uncertainty and accompanied annual anxiety by making an ongoing commitment to several signature community events.
The question of equity is always front of mind and I want to address any concern that each Board office have the same cap given the varying levels of need in our districts. The reality is that many of the organizations we fund operate in multiple Supervisorial districts (even County-wide) and, again, larger commitments may still be made, just through a different process. The Supervisor sponsorship policy, like the inventory process, should not be used for large-scale, ongoing work in our communities and the bulk of public tax dollars should always be focused where the need is highest.
One year into this pandemic we continue to move toward a safe reopening of the County. We cannot move forward without each of us taking all necessary precautions and steps to protect our community -- wearing a mask, social distancing, washing/sanitizing your hands, staying home to the extent possible, and getting vaccinated when it's your turn. We are moving in the right direction and I view my responsibility as helping in every way I can to mitigate the impacts of the pandemic on our residents and small businesses. As I do so, please reach out to my office to let us know how we can continue to be an advocate for you.
As always, if you have questions, comments, and/or concerns, email me at [email protected].
I and my team are here for you.
Be well,
Susan
