Greetings!
This month, our state has fully reopened, and our recovery begins. But for those who have suffered most during the past 15 months, our most vulnerable, recovery will be a long process.
So many lessons have been learned during the last 15 months of this pandemic. From the 581 daily case high on January 4, 2021 to our current daily case of 2 on June 14, 2021. 42,262 of our San Mateo County residents contracted COVID19, and sadly 581 residents lost their lives.
Our June newsletter will focus on what our community needs to move forward and to recover financially, socially, and emotionally. There will also be some updates on programs within our community.
Best,
Warren Slocum
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SAN MATEO COUNTY (AND CALIFORNIA) REOPENS!
RECOVERY INITIATIVE BEGINS
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On June 15th, the State of California fully reopened its economy – and so did San Mateo County. California’s high vaccination rate helped play a role in is decision by Governor Newsom. Here in San Mateo County, we can be proud that as June 15, over 85% of our 16-year-old and older population has been fully vaccinated.
What this means is that there are no more tiers to navigate. We no longer have to social distance. And if you are fully vaccinated, you no longer need to wear a mask outdoors or indoors, with few exceptions. Restaurants, bars and entertainment venues (concerts, movie theatres) and all businesses can fully reopen without capacity limits.
And now our recovery begins. San Mateo County is committed to advancing equity as we recover from this pandemic. We have targeted funding throughout the last 15 months to advance equity – including such programs as Great Plates Delivered meals to homebound seniors, immigrant assistance for those who did not qualify for federal funding, learning hub grants for students from vulnerable communities, rental assistance and small residential owner grants, small business grants, public Wi-Fi expansion, funds for food insecurity and more. We will continue to build for a better future for all San Mateo County residents.
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Food Insecurity goes beyond the Pandemic |
I’ve said this many times – the pandemic exposed long-standing inequities in our community and underscored that our most vulnerable residents are struggling for the most basic of needs. Food insecurity was not only highlighted by but exploded during the pandemic. And food insecurity is foundational with downstream impacts on mental health and life consequences. The cumulative trauma children facing food insecurity now will reverberate throughout their lives if this need is not met.
According to Samaritan House, our lead Core agency, prior to COVID19, 1.4 million meals were distributed yearly. During COVID19, the demand more than doubled to 3 million meals served. Second Harvest of Silicon Valley reports similarly: that on average, 500,000 people receive food from them every month – double the amount served prior to the pandemic. 1 million pounds of groceries have been distributed since the beginning of the pandemic by Second Harvest.
Late last year, the John Gardner Center at Stanford University conducted a Community Needs Assessment Survey which included data on families facing food insecurity in North Fair Oaks and Redwood City. The survey found that moderate to severe insecurity doubled since the start of the pandemic. Food insecurity now affects 15% of the households in Redwood City and North Fair Oaks. Even more sobering – fear of running out of food greatly increased from 25% of households before the pandemic to 40% during. According to the survey, in these areas, more than 760 children live in homes with adults who worry food will run out and 255 children are living in food insecure homes.
All of this information is to set the stage for the future. Food insecurity is not going away and impacts low-wage workers, mostly people of color and mostly female-headed families greatly. I will be bringing to our Board of Supervisors at our next meeting a request to give $2 million in emergency food relief. And discussions are underway to extend the Great Plates program for our seniors. We are committed to help our residents as we recover from this pandemic!
If you are in need of food, here are locations for food distribution in San Mateo County.
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BREAKING NEWS: Extension of the
Eviction Moratorium thru September 30, 2021!
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Many in our community, particularly our most vulnerable residents, are anxious about a pending deadline of June 30, 2021 when the state eviction protections under Senate Bill 91, the California Tenant Relief Act, are to expire. The organizations who provide support to tenants both before and during COVID19 fear that an eviction cliff is looming.
At our June 8th Board meeting, I partnered with Supervisor Don Horsley, which was passed by our Board, to adopt a resolution urging the State to extend eviction protections through December 31, 2021. This resolution also urges Governor Newsom to increase Emergency Rental Assistance Program (ERAP) reimbursements to landlords from 80 to 100 percent and to streamline the application process to increase the efficiency of the rent distribution process.
BREAKING NEWS: today (June 25), Governor Newsom has extended the eviction moratorium and rent relief program to September 30, 2021. The agreement includes $5 billion in federal rental assistance to landlords and tenants. Additionally, the new agreement would increase rent reimbursements for late and future rent payments to 100% for landlords and tenants.
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Permit Fee Relief for Small Businesses |
Small businesses have been greatly financially impacted by the pandemic during the last 15 months. And although we have had grant programs and other means to help businesses, Supervisor Pine and myself wanted to do more because these businesses will be affected for months, possibly years to come. And so did our Environmental Health unit, who permits many of our small businesses, and knew they were hurting.
At the June 8th Board of Supervisors meeting, the Board approved an Environmental Health Fee Relief Program that would focus on certain types Environmental Health-regulated businesses that had sales revenue directly impacted by COVID19 Health Orders. I am heartened to know that this fee credit will provide financial relief of up to $5.8 million to more than 5400 businesses!
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SAN MATEO COUNTY SETS ITS
FY 2021-2023 BUDGET
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This past week, the Board of Supervisors approved the $6.3 Billion for FY 2021-23. This budget will address critical needs of COVID19 and introduce more innovation so that we can better support the residents of San Mateo County, particularly our most vulnerable. As our County Manager noted in his remarks: “We must endeavor to leave no one behind.”
Here are some highlights:
· Raise early-learning reading scores and improve school attendance with $16.2 million over two years in Measure K funds to continue the successes of The Big Lift, a partnership with schools, libraries and community partners.
· Help the county’s most vulnerable residents by providing funds to replace the aging Cordilleras mental health facility with a new campus that will provide state-of-the-art care for adults with a severe mental illness.
· Enhance the quality of life for all with major upgrades to Coyote Point, Memorial and Flood parks and continue to convert the 56-acre Tunitas Creek beach property into the newest County park.
· Pursue social equity in services and internal practices with the hiring of a new chief equity officer in the County Manager’s Office to coordinate countywide efforts to develop and implement policies and programs to advance equity.
This County budget reflects our values and the vast array of vital services provided daily to children, to meals for seniors, libraries, parks, homeless services, housing, hospitals and clinics as well as the criminal justice system.
You can read the Recommended FY2021-2023 Budget here.
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DISTRICT 4 EVENTS:
FACEBOOK LIVE CONVERSATION CONTINUES
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The Time is Now:
Why the Youth COVID19 Vaccine is Important!
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On June 24th, my office hosted a Facebook Live on “The Time is Now: Why the Youth COVID19 Vaccine is Important” in partnership with CARON and Redwood City Together. We heard from our panelists from Kaiser Permanente – Redwood City, the Siena Youth Center and the North Fair Oaks Community Council Youth Member. They discussed the importance of having youth vaccinated to go back to school in-person in the fall and underscored that the safety and effectiveness of the vaccine in protecting youth and their family members from the COVID19 virus. You can watch this Facebook Live discussion, which is in Spanish, here.
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CELEBRATE JULY 4TH SAFELY - FIREWORKS BAN |
This is a reminder that the Board of Supervisors recently updated and enhanced our Fireworks Ordinance – to protect the residents in unincorporated San Mateo County and their property. It was important to strengthen the ordinance to meet the danger posed by the much-expanded and devasting fire seasons we now face due to Climate change. Our new ordinance increases fine for illegal fireworks to $1000. It calls for strict liability of social hosts and increased and meaningful fines to deter people from using unpermitted fireworks. You can read our updated fireworks ordinance here
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San Mateo County Poet Laureate Aileen Cassinetto is one of 23 national poets awarded a Poets Laureate Fellowship by The Academy of American Poets and will receive a $50,000 grant! It’s quite an honor and we are so proud of Aileen’s accomplishments to spread the power of poetry and the spoken word in San Mateo County and beyond!
Veterans are helping veterans! American Legion Post 105 (of which I am a member) in Redwood City will redevelop its current hall and build an 8-story building with 300 apartments for veterans in need.
Speaking of veterans – the San Mateo County Veterans Commission is seeking nominations for the Veteran of the Year, Patriot and the Year and Enterprise of the Year for their 6th Annual Veterans Recognition event this November. Nomination forms can be found here.
If you live in the North Fair Oaks area, please consider attending the North Fair Oaks Community Council meetings. They meet the fourth Thursday night of each month. For more information, contact our Office of Community Affairs at CommunityAffairs@smcgov.org.
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If you want to get more insight into what my staff and I are working on, please connect with us on social media. It’s also a great way to interact with the office and to get notifications on upcoming events. Click the icons and like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.
Finally, if you would like to see back issues of this newsletter, they can be found on my website here. They certainly reflect the long way we have come!
Warren Slocum
District 4 Supervisor
San Mateo County
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