Supervisor Hillary Ronen - COVID19 Dont Worry Get Tested Newsletter

Facebook

Twitter

Instagram

July 3, 2020
Read past newsletters here.
Sign up for the District 9 Newsletter here.

Don't Worry. Get Tested. You Have the Right to Recover.

Dear Neighbors,

I hope you are all staying safe and healthy. Please enjoy the long holiday weekend but please be safe. Continue social distancing and wearing a mask whenever outside your home. Our ability to reopen society depends on keeping the curve flat and we must all do our part to protect one another. Thank you!

In this newsletter, we cover the latest updates on:

The new Right to Recover Program
San Francisco’s reopening plan
La Fénix, a new affordable housing complex, is now accepting applications
November local ballot measures
Staying safe during July 4
SFMTA sweeping/ parking enforcements

My office may not be in City Hall these days, but we are still here for you. We are available by email: ronenstaff@sfgov.org or by phone at 415-554-5144 (leave a message, and we will call you back-- we are checking voicemail frequently). Check for updates on my Twitter and Facebook.

Right to Recover

The Right to Recover Program is now active and available for any San Franciscan who tests positive for the COVID-19 virus and has no alternative access to income during the mandatory period of quarantine.

Together with the community, I created the Right to Recover Program after the UCSF Mission study found that 90 percent of COVID-19 positive individuals in the census tract were essential workers who were not able to work from home. The study also found that 95 percent of the COVID-19 positive individuals were Latinx.

The goal of the Right to Recover Program is twofold:

To encourage all essential workers to get tested for COVID-19
To guarantee two weeks of paid wages to any individual who tests positive for COVID-19 and does not have alternative access to income or benefits, so the individual can safely quarantine during the period of infection.

Eligibility shall be established at the initial interview where test results are disclosed by the San Francisco Department of Public Health. No one will be disqualified for immigration status or parole/probation status.

The Right to Recover Program will be administered through community-based organizations selected for their cultural competency and history of work with vulnerable populations.

Today the program is available through the Mission Economic Development Agency (MEDA) in the Mission and Young Community Developers (YCD) in the Bayview. Shortly, the program will be also accessible through the Central City Hospitality House serving the Tenderloin and SOMA neighborhoods, FACES SF serving Visitacion Valley, and Self-Help for the Elderly serving Chinatown.

Thank you to UCSF, the Latino Task Force on COVID-19, Give2SF, Office of Economic and Workforce Development, Department of Public Health and the Human Rights Commission who worked with my office to create this program in record time.

San Francisco’s Reopening

Unfortunately, we are now seeing a rise in COVID-19 cases in SF. As a result, the City made the difficult decision to temporarily delay the re-openings that were scheduled for Monday, June 29.

On July 25, San Francisco saw 103 new cases. In contrast, when we first reopened outdoor dining and in-store retail on June 15, we only had 20 new cases. You can track SF’s COVID status here.

There is no change to businesses and activities currently allowed under prior reopening phases. To see where San Francisco is in our reopening plan, visit here.

It’s up to us, San Francisco: To avoid rolling back or stalling reopening plans, all San Franciscans must do their part and understand that their choices and behavior have a direct impact on our city, our continued ability to reopen, our efforts to save our beloved small businesses and our ability to continue to safely see our friends and families in the future.

PLEASE stay vigilant-- everyone needs to wear face coverings, maintain social distance, and practice good hygiene. Do not wait to get tested.

If you are feeling symptomatic, get tested. If you are an essential worker or you need to leave the house for work, get tested. And have your family get tested too. Let’s all do our part in protecting each other so that we can safely reopen San Francisco.

La Fénix Affordable Housing Accepting Applications

Here's some great news! Construction of La Fénix affordable housing is almost done, and applications are being accepted now through July 28!

Apply Here.
More info here.

Congratulations Mission Housing Development Corporation! La Fénix at 1950 will be accepting applications through DAHLIA from June 30 through July 28, 2020 and offers 115 affordable apartments for rent in San Francisco.

Get Ready for November:
Local Ballot Measures

Our local November ballot is taking shape. Here are eight meaningful, well thought-out initiatives I’ve helped develop:

GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY

Public Advocate (Supervisor Gordon Mar)
Since the start of this year, the FBI has brought charges of corruption, bribery, and fraud against several City leaders. We should not have to rely on the feds to keep San Francisco ethical. This measure will give San Franciscans our own Public Advocate, elected by the voters, to serve as a good government watchdog to stop waste and fraud and put an end to the decades-long culture of casual corruption in our city.
Clean the City Act (Supervisor Matt Haney)
Finally, we are taking a serious step to deal with our filthy streets. This measure will restructure our unwieldy Public Works department and create a stand alone Department of Street Cleaning and Sanitation with specific standards and accountability measures to ensure clean and healthy streets.

POLICE REFORM AND PUBLIC SAFETY

Police Staffing (President Norman Yee)
With people across the city and the country demanding justice reform, we must scrutinize our law enforcement budgets and direct our dollars to support effective public safety strategies. In order to give the city the flexibility to adjust staffing and invest funds in community-based solutions, this measure will remove mandatory minimum police staffing levels.
Sheriff’s Department Oversight Board and Inspector General (Supervisor Shamann Walton)
We need to address the lack of oversight of the Sheriff’s Department. This measure will create an independent citizen oversight board and inspector general to set policies, investigate misconduct, and recommend disciplinary responses to the Sheriff.

EQUITY AND REVENUE

Overpaid Executive Tax (Supervisor Matt Haney)
I worked closely with Supervisor Haney to draft this measure that will tax large companies that pay their CEOs exorbitantly more than their average workers. The pandemic is now both a public health crisis and an economic crisis, and the economic inequities in San Francisco have never been more glaring. Our city is home to more billionaires per capita than anywhere else in the world, but we’re struggling to find the funds to pay for nurses, doctors, first responders, and other essential workers just when we need them the most.
Transfer Tax (Supervisor Dean Preston)
This measure will double the one-time transfer tax that the city collects on properties that sell for more than $10 million. Sensibly, the collected revenue would be used to increase affordable housing numbers, as well as to help small landlords who forgive tenants for unpaid rent due to the pandemic.

DEMOCRATIC ACCESS AND PARTICIPATION

Vote16 (President Norman Yee)
The San Francisco Youth Commission is spearheading the campaign to expand voting rights for municipal elections to 16- and 17-year-old city residents. With young people now leading national movements for anti-racism, police reform, climate justice, and more, we need their voices at the ballot box as well.
Aspiring Citizens (Supervisor Shamann Walton)
In a similar vein, this measure will remove the outdated clause in our charter that bars non-citizens from serving on policy and oversight boards and commissions. To fully embody San Francisco as a Sanctuary City, we must welcome all members of our community to participate in city government.

Galería de la Raza’s New Home

This month we cut the ribbon on what will soon become Galería de la Raza’s permanent home on Folsom and 24th Street in the heart of the Calle 24 Latino Cultural District!

After being kicked out of their home of close to 50 years on 24th Street, when this project is fully built in close to a year, Galería will be back and bigger and better than ever in this permanent home.

Thank you to the always-amazing Director of Galería, Ani Rivera, and the leaders of Calle 24, Erick Arguello, John Mendoza and so many others that made this dream come true.

Remembering Kelvin Chew
and Sergio Montes

It was with great sadness that I dedicated our June 16 Board of Supervisors meeting in the memory of Kelvin Chew, a native son of San Francisco, whose life was taken suddenly and senselessly by gun violence.

On the evening of May 7th, Kelvin Chew stepped outside his home in the Portola to get some fresh air after a class. He was attacked during an attempted robbery and fatally shot. Kelvin was only 19 years old.

Kelvin was the son of a working class Chinese immigrant family. He graduated from Balboa High School and was a frequent Portola Library patron and a Summer Stride volunteer. He was looking forward to studying computer science and engineering at UC Santa Cruz this fall.

He is survived by his parents and sister. Please join me if you can in helping the family with the expenses related to this devastating loss by donating to their GoFundMe here.

This past Tuesday, I closed the Board of Supervisors meeting in memory of Sergio Montes, who was hit and killed by the driver of a vehicle on San Bruno Avenue in the Portola on the morning of June 18.

Sergio moved to San Francisco 40 years ago from Nicaragua. He is survived by his wife, 4 children, and 4 grandchildren. Sergio worked as a janitor and loved spending time with his family at BBQs and cookouts.

I will continue to work to implement our Vision Zero traffic safety goals so we can put an end to these senseless and heartbreaking traffic deaths.

Stay Safe During July 4

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, San Francisco has cancelled our Fourth of July Waterfront Celebration fireworks show.

The number of hospitalizations has increased more than 50% in the last week, and the Health Indicator for hospitalizations is currently RED. The City is strongly recommending people stay home as much as possible and minimize social interactions this weekend.

If you must go out:

Wear a face covering
Keep at least 6 feet of distance between you and others
Wash hand frequently/pack hand sanitizer
Avoid crowds

SFPD and SFFD remind us that San Francisco law prohibits the discharge of fireworks except for public displays. Fireworks are illegal and pose a fire safety hazard and a real danger to all of us. Residents are encouraged to call 9-1-1 only for police, fire, or medical emergencies. Calling 9-1-1 for fireworks calls may delay calls for service, and residents are encouraged to use 3-1-1 instead.

Read SFPD’s fire safety information on fireworks here.

SFMTA Sweeping and Parking Enforcement

After temporarily suspending time limits and lowering meter prices at meters in response to the shelter-in-place order, starting on Monday, July 6, SFMTA will resume enforcement.

Meter Policy Starting Monday, July 6:

Restore Meter Rates with a $0.50 discount. Meter rates vary throughout San Francisco, based on the demand for parking on the block and the time of day.
Restore pre-COVID parking meter time limits.
SFMTA will look to adjust rates every 6 weeks.
Reprioritize meter enforcement.
SFMTA Parking Control Officers will begin regular meter enforcement on Monday, July 13th.

SFMTA also recently started enforcing street cleaning to help Public Works street sweepers get better access to the curb and keep our city clean. Residential Parking Permits and neighborhood time limits will not be enforced at this time to reduce the frequency with which residents need to move their cars. Check SFMTA’s comprehensive COVID-19 Responses page.

Resources and Announcements

Resources

The SF Public Utilities Commission has launched an emergency Community Assistance Program—providing discounts of up to 35% on water, power and sewer services. Apply today.
Great Plates Provides Free Home-Delivered Meals for Seniors: Great Plates Delivered SF is temporary state emergency food assistance program for older adults sheltering in place due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This City-run program delivers three free meals a day to eligible seniors, who are at a higher risk from COVID-19. Unfortunately, under the state’s program rules, older adults who currently receive state or federal food assistance such as CalFresh or home-delivered meals are not eligible for Great Plates. To see if you or someone you know may qualify for this program or other services, please call (415) 355-6700 or visit: www.sfhsa.org/greatplates. The City's helpline is available Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Essential Worker Ride Home: SF Environment the SFCTA launched a program to help essential workers commuting home late at night and don't have a reliable transit option. Click here for more.
向警方舉報罪案
SFPD 語言協助服務指南
High Risk Community Housing Program: This new city program provides complimentary, temporary hotel accommodations to San Francisco residents living with others in neighborhoods with higher COVID-19 rates. Please visit, www.sfhsa.org/EmergencyHousing for more information about program benefits, eligibility, and to apply.
- 三藩市高風險社區住房（HRCH）計劃為新型冠狀病毒 (COVID-19) 發生率較高的社區中與他人同住的三藩市工人提供臨時的免費酒店住宿。如果您需要用中文查看此应用程序請點擊此處。
- El Programa de Vivienda Comunitaria de Alto Riesgo (HRCH, por sus siglas en inglés) de San Francisco brinda alojamiento temporal y gratuito en el hotel a los trabajadores de San Francisco que viven con otras personas en vecindarios con tasas COVID-19 más altas. Si necesita ver esta aplicación en español, haga clic aquí .

Announcements

SFPD Bayview Community Meeting:The next community meeting will be held on Tuesday, July 7th, 2020 at 6:00pm. Please RSVP by sending an email to Sfpdbayviewstation@sfgov.org by Friday, July 3rd.
CENSUS 2020: If you haven't done your 2020 census yet, it’s not too late! The census is a count of EVERYONE living in the United States, including the very young and the very old, citizens and non-citizens, the housed and the unhoused. There’s a lot at stake: data from the census determines how many representatives we have in Congress, and impacts how much federal money flows into San Francisco’s schools, hospitals, roads, social services and more. Make sure you complete your census today at https://2020census.gov/! If you need language services, go to https://2020census.gov/en/languages.html.
Free Meals for Kids Will Continue This Summer SFUSD’s grab and go meal sites will continue throughout the summer. Free meals will be available to all children. For locations and updates, visit sfusd.edu/schoolfood. Summer school will be remote this year.
Transportation info: Go to 511.org/alerts/emergencies/coronavirus for Bay Area transportation updates.
Blood Donors Needed: Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, patients continue to require blood products for childbirth, cancer treatments, essential medical procedures, and everyday emergencies. Currently, there’s a critical need for all blood types, especially type O, A-negative and B-negative. Go to www.bloodheroes.org

General Resources

SF Pit Stop and and Handwashing Stations
SF Food Resources
Help for SF small business owners, workers, and non-profits
Visit the SF Coronavirus Main Page here.
Information for the eviction and rent increase moratorium here.
SF Domestic and family violence resources
SF COVID-19 Data Tracker