Greetings!
My July newsletter finds us at a most challenging intersection. We are faced with the new challenges of a highly contagious COVID strain, known as the Delta variant, and we are being asked to wear masks indoors. In addition, we have nearly 75,000 people who are eligible but still not vaccinated and we must figure out ways to encourage those neighbors to get vaccinated if we are to STOP the pandemic in San Mateo County.
I am asking you to do your part – and then some.
Best,
Warren Slocum
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COVID19 UPDATES:
GET VACCINATED AND WEAR A MASK!
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California has reopened for business for just over a month now. And unfortunately, the Delta variant, which is highly transmissible and more contagious, is on the rise and is the dominant strain of COVID19 in the state. So much so that most Bay Area counties, including San Mateo County are now strongly recommending that everyone wear a mask indoors in places like grocery or retail stores, movie theatres and family entertainment centers, regardless of vaccination status. And the County just implemented a new policy requiring everyone to wear masks inside any County facility or building – regardless of vaccination status.
The Director of the Center for Disease Control said it best last week, that this is “a pandemic of the unvaccinated.” In fact, 97% of hospitalizations in the US right now are of unvaccinated. So – if you are eligible for and have not been vaccinated, do so now! Vaccination is the best tool for all of us and our community stay protected. The good news is that the vaccines are highly effective against the Delta variant.
Here in San Mateo County, we have made great strides in getting our communities vaccinated. As of July 20, 524,363 individuals have completed their vaccination series which is 89.1% of 12 years and over. And this is good news. But we need to encourage those eligible and not yet vaccinated to do so to protect younger children who cannot yet be vaccinated. San Mateo County continues to hold vaccination clinics throughout the county, and our calendar of clinics can be accessed here.
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INVESTMENTS IN OUR COMMUNITY!
BUILD BACK BETTER
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A Home for Non-Profits in East Palo Alto
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During my tenure in office, I have worked closely with JobTrain and can’t say enough good things about its President & CEO Barrie Hathaway. And JobTrain has some important news to share.
Thanks to the help of Senator Josh Becker, JobTrain secured $5 million in state funding toward constructing a new 100,000-square foot Center for Economic Mobility in East Palo Alto. Not only will this bring jobs to that community, but the new facility will deliver significant benefits to those it serves.
JobTrain is a non-profit that provides career training and employment opportunities to low-income adults, serving over 190,000 individuals for the past 55 years. This new center will house other non-profits and allow for an unprecedented amount of resources to area residents who have been hit hard economically by the pandemic. Emerson Collective will match this funding with an additional $5 million.
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A New Ferry Building coming to Redwood City
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Thanks to Assemblyman Kevin Mullin’s leadership, the State Budget signed into law on July 12th includes $5 million to construct the Redwood City Ferry Terminal. This new terminal will allow Redwood City to once again introduce ferry service, something that has been in the works with Water Emergency Transportation Authority (WETA) for about 25 years. After a feasibility study to assess ridership and financing, the hope is to have new Ferry Terminal and ferry service up and running as another form of transit – one which I look forward to using.
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Measure K Investments – Helping Local Organizations in District 4
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Over the last month, the Board of Supervisors has approved several District 4 Measure K grants to non-profits doing exceptional work in our community for our community.
Casa Circulo Cultural is an amazing organization that develops, preserves and encourages the Latino and Hispanic art, culture, language traditions to youth and adults. They just moved to a new location in the heart of North Fair Oaks and their new property needed renovation, including a new floor for their dancers. We provided Measure K funding for this new facility.
Generations United’s mission is to empower Redwood City and North Fair Oaks children and their families to reach their full potential in this generation and next. They do this by offering academic and enrichment classes and services to underserved families in the Redwood City and North Fair Oaks communities. Their work is invaluable to our community – and thus they received a Measure K grant to continue their work to provide academic enrichment at their centers and to continue to provide services to children and their families, including weekly food distribution and mental health counseling.
Hispanic Foundation of Silicon Valley works to improve the quality of life for Latinos in the Silicon Valley region and to disrupt barriers to the Hispanic community at the margins of the technology industry. They do this through their College Success Center, a one-stop hub for students and their families to achieve educational excellence and college readiness. Our Measure K grant will support the continuance of their virtual programming in District 4 as students and their parents transition beyond the pandemic.
All Five is a high-quality, socioeconomically diverse early childhood education program that is embedded in the Belle Haven Elementary School campus. The pandemic has highlighted the tremendous need for access to childcare and early education. In fact, the need is tied to the ability of low-income parents, many of our essential workers, to return to work. It’s why, with the Board approval, I gave this non-profit a Measure K grant to allow them to build out their capacity and allow more children, including infants and toddlers to participate in their program.
Renaissance Entrepreneurship Center has supported over 32,000 individuals who have started and grown more than 18,000 businesses since 1985. And in fulfilling their mission of transforming lives and communities through entrepreneurship, they work at the intersection of racial, social, and economic justice. In helping their 3000 clients during the pandemic, Renaissance learned that unless local residents are encouraged to start and grow their own businesses, there is a strong chance that some economically disadvantaged local residents may will never be able to raise their standard of living to the standard of self-sufficiency. A Measure K grant was approved for Renaissance to conduct a feasibility study to determine whether a Business and Family Resource Center located in North Fair Oaks can help in ending the cycle of poverty for existing low-income households and the newly unemployed. I truly believe that such a center will transform lives.
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HELPING THOSE IN NEED:
SAN MATEO COUNTY CARES!
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During the last month, the Board of Supervisors has approved a suite of programs to fuel the recovery from COVID19 including grants to small businesses, continuation of food distribution, and tenants and landlords.
I recently heard this phrase which made me pause: “There is no vaccine for hunger.” The COVID19 vaccines have helped many return to their pre-pandemic lifestyles. However, there is one pandemic-related hardship that isn’t going away any time soon: hunger. Nationally, hunger has not been this high since the Great Recession from which it took nearly a decade to recover. We don’t want this happening again.
On June 29th, our Board approved funding for several items that strike at the heart of food insecurity. First, we approved the continuation of funding for home-delivered meals for seniors as the Great Plates Delivered program ended. Renamed “Second Course”, this program will now run through June 2023 with funding of $3.9 million and deliver 3,250 meals per week to 650 residents. It will also have a grocery delivery component for seniors able to cook meals. We also approved an investment of $2.55 million to Second Harvest Food Bank to support the continuation of food distribution to our most vulnerable residents in San Mateo County.
At that same Board meeting, we contributed an additional $1 million to the San Mateo County Emergency Financial Assistance Program. This funding is to help tenants who are not eligible for the state funding. This could include those who sublease or are one of multiple households sharing a home to reduce rent, or those with shadow debt who borrowed from family and friends to cover rent due.
All said – just the above-mentioned investments total over $10 million to help our residents recover from this pandemic!
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Giving Home Cooks an Entrepreneurial Opportunity – Helping Micro and Small Businesses
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At our July 20th meeting, the Board provided a lifeline to struggling local small businesses as part of a $2.8 million COVID-19 relief package. With the goal of creating entry-level business opportunities to workers displaced or negatively impacted by the pandemic, we approved a two-year pilot program under the state’s Microenterprise Home Kitchen Operations (MEHKO) act, giving local cooks a path to sell food out of their homes. The county will also waive permit fees and give $2,500 grants to up to 25 home kitchen operators to cover startup costs, including food safety training, advertising and marketing. The pilot program will cost $238,000 to operate. This program will largely help minorities, women of color and low-income residents by giving them an entrepreneurial pathway into the food industry.
Additionally, we approved $500,000 in new emergency relief for small-scale food-service entrepreneurs such as food truck operators and caterers hit hard by the pandemic. Another $2 million was allocated to provides a fresh round of funding for local, small businesses impacted by the pandemic and who did not receive prior County, state or federal relief.
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JULY IS PARKS & RECREATION MONTH
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At our July 13th Board of Supervisors meeting, I was honored to bring a proclamation naming July as Parks and Recreation Month. We have a great variety of parks in San Mateo County to fit every need - from quiet redwood forests and curiosity-inspiring tide pools to family-fun picnic sites and playgrounds.
Did you know that San Mateo County has 24 parks – over 16,000 acres - and 190 miles of county and local trails including three regional trails? Crystal Springs Trail and Coyote Point are our most popular parks, with over 530,000 visitors this past year.
My family has long been avid users of our beautiful parks here in San Mateo County (the photo is of me and my sons at Memorial Park). And I believe that being in nature is a great stress reliever – something we all need! To see what incredible programs our Parks Department has this summer, including the very popular “Take a Hike”, visit here.
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GET THE TRUTH ABOUT FLOOD PARK!
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Recently, there has been a lot of disinformation being circulated regarding the renovation of Flood Park – a beautiful 80-year old urban park located in Menlo Park. Since I’ve been on the Board of Supervisors, we have been planning for the redesign and renovation of this 21-acre site, with much community engagement during this time. At our July 20th Board meeting, we approved an agreement with CMG Landscape Architecture to design and permitting work for the Reimagine Flood Park project. And the community will continue to be involved in the design of this park. The new park will provide much-needed soccer field space – which is in short supply in not only our county, but the entire Bay Area – for both family and team use. This park will allow all to use it – and will be so important in incorporating nature and wellness to those in vulnerable communities who do not have access to a back yard or space to play. If you have any questions regarding Flood Park, please don’t hesitate to contact me at wslocum@smcgov.org.
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Follow the progress of the Middlefield Road Improvement Project going on now in the heart of North Fair Oaks. Updates and more information on the project can be found here.
Would your organization like to host a pop-up vaccination clinic? Our County still has about 11% of our eligible residents unvaccinated. Here is where you can submit a request for a vaccination clinic.
Senator Josh Becker recently held a town hall on Fighting Fire with Technology. It was fascinating and hopeful about new technologies being developed right here to fight mega fires. You can watch it here.
Nominate a Veteran! 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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