San Francisco would need an additional $1.3 billion in order to meet the state-mandated affordable housing production requirements set to kick in next year, according to a report from the Mayor’s Office of Housing and Community Development.

That’s just the start: The number swells each year, topping out at $2.4 billion by 2029.

While San Francisco is still working on its “housing element” — a housing production plan every California city is required to complete every eight years — city planners face a daunting task: how to create 82,000 new homes in the eight years from 2023 to 2030, including 32,000 that are affordable to very-low-income and low-income families. The housing requirements assigned to every city are known as Regional Housing Needs Allocation, or RHNA.

The looming affordable housing funding gap was the topic of a hearing Thursday at the Board of Supervisors Government Audit and Oversight Committee.

At the hearing, Committee Chairman Dean Preston questioned whether the city was doing enough to prioritize homes for working-class residents in a city where under 20% can afford market-rate rents — which reach into several thousand a month.

“What is clear is the existing strategies are not going to get us there,” he said. “In the best-case scenario, with traditional approaches, we chip away toward our goals but we certainly don’t get anywhere near them. New tools are needed.”

While San Francisco produces more affordable housing than any other city of comparable size — it currently has 11,000 units in its pipeline — its production of market-rate housing far outpaced its affordable-housing output in the current eight-year RHNA cycle. The city built 48% of its affordable goal and 151% of its market-rate goal.

The city is currently facing stern headwinds on both the creation of market-rate and low-income housing.

The Sister Lillian Murphy Community in San Francisco is an example of affordable housing coming online in San Francisco in 2022. The city says it does not have enough funding to push toward its affordable housing goals.

Samantha Laurey/The Chronicle

On the market-rate side, development applications have slowed to a trickle as for-profit builders have postponed or canceled projects because they don’t work financially. Market-rate projects generated $208 million for affordable-housing fees in the last five years.

On the subsidized side, soaring construction costs have added millions of dollars in costs to many projects, which puts San Francisco at a disadvantage when competing against other California cities for affordable-housing tax credits and bonds.

Lydia Ely, deputy director of the Mayor’s Office of Housing and Community Development, said that the city has little or no money beyond the projects that are already in the planning or construction phase.

She said that San Francisco is “disadvantaged” by a 2020 change in the way that California divides tax credits and affordable-housing bonds, the two programs that pay for most low-income housing construction. Before 2020, San Francisco could count on receiving the OK for all of its bond and tax credit applications. Under the new system, the city is losing out to cities that have far cheaper construction costs and land value.

She called the changes “the biggest threat to our production.”

“Those sources used to come as a right, over the counter,” said Ely. “Right now they are highly competitive and oversubscribed.

“Even though we are robustly pursuing all the local sources, we cannot expect those sources to grow significantly; it’s just too volatile, and the unknowns are too unknown,” she said. “Beyond the fact that we need more, we can’t anticipate what those sources will be.”

Ely said construction costs have risen 25% in the past two years, and every project that “is starting construction is needing a couple of million more” from the city.

Preston used the hearing to advocate that the city earmark all of the money generated by Proposition I for affordable housing. Prop. I, which Preston sponsored and which voters approved in 2020, increased transfer tax on properties over $10 million.

Preston said that voters “went and created $170 million of annual revenue general fund for affordable housing, yet we seem to be in a fight every year.”

Jeff Cretan, a spokesman for Mayor London Breed, said Prop. I is a general fund tax “not dedicated to any specific purpose by the voters.”

“The mayor and the board of supervisors make decisions how to allocate the general fund during the budget process, which kicks off in two weeks when the mayor introduces her proposed budget,” he said.

JK Dineen is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jdineen@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @sfjkdineen

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SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) — The COVID-19 surge in San Francisco’s Omicron variant is finally coming down, according to the city’s top health official. It has also taught city leaders to change their goals when dealing with COVID.

Don’t miss a story, start your day with KRON4.com

The surge caused San Francisco’s COVID-19 cases to hit a record high — more cases than the city has simultaneously reported in the entire two-year pandemic.

“Data shows that cases peaked on Jan. 9 with a 7-day average of 2,164 cases per day and have steadily declined each day since to 1,076 cases per day on Jan. 12,” according to the San Francisco Department of Public Health.

COVID is now an “endemic,” not a “pandemic,” San Francisco doctors say

Hospital admissions are expected to peak this week, with no concerns the local hospital may be reaching capacity, the department adds.

However, cases are still “extremely high”. The department is recommending that San Francisco residents remain cautious about their activities and wear the right face masks over the next few weeks.

“We’ve seen how COVID has evolved over the last two years and as a city we’ve evolved with it,” said Mayor of London Breed. “We know this virus will be with us for the foreseeable future, but we have the tools and experience in dealing with COVID not to be able to completely turn our lives upside down.”

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Despite the record number of cases, most people in San Francisco reported mild or asymptomatic infections in the recent surge.

“Omicron changed the game – it’s extremely contagious and also less severe and often mild for those who have been vaccinated and boosted. Our goal is no longer to prevent every case of COVID,” said Dr. Director of Health, Dr. Grant Colfax. “Instead, our aim is to prevent the worst consequences of the disease, such as hospitalizations and deaths, and to do so while essential services such as schools and hospitals remain open. We do this by doubling down on what we know works – get vaccinated and boosted. And during times of high transmission, we need to be extra vigilant and strengthen our defenses to prevent spread to those most at risk and to our frontline workers who must support the city’s core services.”

The city reports that 82% of its population is vaccinated and 61% of the eligible population has received an additional booster shot.

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Across the Bay Area, most counties are beginning to reduce the number of reported cases, but hospitalizations are still increasing.

“Like most counties in the Bay Area, we are now seeing our case numbers going down. We’re really more confident that this is a reliable trend,” said Dr. Matt Willis, the Marin County public health officer.

In Santa Clara County, they use wastewater monitoring to supplement their public health data. It measures the amount of virus in wastewater and accounts for those who are asymptomatic, don’t test, or do a home test.

Department of Health Deputy Director Michael Balliet says they are seeing a similar trend.

“Some leveling off or maybe even a slight drop in virus concentrations in wastewater,” Balliet said. “We are cautiously optimistic that our clinical cases will show the same kind of reduction.”

But dr Willis says it’s not time to let go of your vigilance yet.

“I think the other concern is that our hospitalizations are not going down at the moment. In fact, they keep increasing,” said Dr. willis

At John Muir Health in Contra Costa County, Chief Medical Officer Dr. Russell Rodriguez his concern.

“The number of impatient patients is approaching our highest ever recorded figure for our healthcare system,” said Dr. Rodriguez.

He says hospitalization lags behind case positivity, often peaking a week or two after cases have peaked. Both doctors are confident that hospitalizations will soon decrease.

dr Rodriguez says hospitals are still busy and asks people not to go to the emergency room for a COVID test or for very mild and manageable symptoms.

The post San Francisco’s COVID instances are trending down, metropolis adjustments targets appeared first on Los Gatos News And Events.

District 8 Supervisor Rafael Mandelman on October 25 kicked off his reelection campaign at a birthday event at Poesia in the Castro. (He turned 48 just days beforehand.) Now in year three of his first term, he is busier than ever, with his dedicated, hard-working staff—Legislative Aides Tom Temprano, Jacob Bintliff, George Kolombatovich, and Jackie Thornhill—juggling day-to-day operations with him as he stretches out his already packed personal schedule to include fundraising, media outreach, and other efforts necessary for the reelection campaign.

As a disclaimer, our own team here at the San Francisco Bay Times has long known and admired Supervisor Mandelman, who is a former columnist for the paper. With us he was both professional and genuinely considerate. His leadership skills were evident, yet he never demeaned or diminished the talents of others. In that regard and more, he is in our view one of the best, caring team players we have ever seen hold office in San Francisco. He also remains the city’s only openly LGBTQ supervisor.

Shortly after the campaign kick-off event, he generously took time for an interview.

San Francisco Bay Times: Did you always desire a career in politics, and specifically politics here in San Francisco? If not, what led to that decision?

Supervisor Rafael Mandelman: For as long as I can remember, I have always been fascinated by politics and government.  When other boys in my elementary and middle schools were obsessing about sports, I was avidly following elections, picking favorite Congresspeople, arguing with adults about various political issues. Following my freshman year of high school, I applied to intern in various local governmental offices and ended up spending the summer working for Doris Ward, who would become the first African American woman president of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. So, it’s maybe not entirely surprising that as an adult I sought out opportunities to engage in local politics, volunteering on campaigns, serving on the boards of various community organizations and local Democratic Clubs and on City commissions, and ultimately running for and winning election to the City College Board of Trustees and now the Board of Supervisors.   

San Francisco Bay Times: Instead of running for the State Assembly or perhaps another open seat this time around, you chose to run for reelection to the Board of Supervisors. What led to that decision?

Supervisor Rafael Mandelman: Being District 8 Supervisor is the best job I’ve ever had. I have the opportunity to work on solutions to our City’s biggest challenges like homelessness, public safety, and climate change. But I also get to help my constituents with their day-to-day concerns—getting speed bumps installed on a dangerous street or helping an entrepreneur secure permits and open a new neighborhood small business.

A little over three years into my first term, I feel like I am just getting the hang of being a good Supervisor and have a lot that I would still like to accomplish. But San Francisco still has big challenges, and during my second term I hope to use that experience to have a bigger impact on the issues that affect the lives of District 8 residents and all San Franciscans: homelessness and especially unsheltered homelessness, mental illness and addiction, public safety, and public transportation, to name a few.

San Francisco Bay Times: You are perhaps one of the most skilled politicians in the state to bridge the often wide and contentious divide between so-called moderates and progressives. Previously, you were even a President of the Harvey Milk LGBTQ Democratic Club who also was loyal to the Alice B. Toklas LGBTQ Democratic Club and served as President of the Noe Valley Democratic Club and the District 8 Democratic Club. What have you done to cultivate this skill and what would you like to see happen such that Democrats could better come together over shared goals in San Francisco?

Supervisor Rafael Mandelman: Political insiders in San Francisco perseverate on the progressive-moderate divide. In my experience, most people have a mix of views, some more conservative and some more liberal depending on the moment and the particular issue. So, I try to focus less on the labels and more on representing the values of my constituents. I do think of myself as a progressive, but I also strongly believe that the most important task for progressives in local government is not just to stake out the leftwardmost positions, but rather to demonstrate that progressive government can be effective government: that we can show compassion to our unhoused neighbors without giving up the ability to use and be proud of our shared public spaces, that we can reform our criminal justice system and dramatically reduce rates of incarceration and also tackle the outrageous and unacceptable levels of retail theft and other property crime in the City, and that we can protect the character of our neighborhoods while still making spaces for new residents looking for an affordable home. 

San Francisco Bay Times: Whom do you admire in politics?

Supervisor Rafael Mandelman: I love Barack Obama, always will. 

San Francisco Bay Times: So many of our longtime friends, neighbors, and coworkers have moved out of the Castro in recent years. In July of this year, it was reported that the “San Francisco exodus” is over, but it doesn’t seem like that in the Castro. The loss of such individuals, and particularly LGBTQ community members, is felt by many. What steps are you and others taking to help retain the unique character and history of the ever-evolving Castro, while helping to make it a welcoming place to live for LGBTQ individuals and others?

Supervisor Rafael Mandelman: The Castro has been recognized worldwide for half a century as a symbol of LGBTQ liberation and an enclave for LGBTQ people like Harvey Milk to find safety, acceptance, and chosen family. Unfortunately, many of Harvey’s contemporaries—the folks who lived through and helped make the social revolutions of the seventies, eighties, and nineties—have by now been priced out of the Castro or are hanging on by their fingernails to a rent-controlled unit that is their only tenuous protection from exile from San Francisco in their golden years.

As Supervisor, building and retaining affordable housing for these folks, as well as newcomers to the neighborhood, has been a top priority of mine. I ensured that there was dedicated funding for neighborhoods like the Castro in our 2019 $600 million Affordable Housing Bond, worked with the Mayor to find $12 million to acquire a union hall site at Duboce and Market for a major new affordable development where we will build more than 100 units of LGBTQ-affirming senior affordable housing, and set aside funds to conduct an analysis of ways to preserve and build affordable units in the Castro and other District 8 neighborhoods.

In 2019 I authored legislation creating the Castro LGBTQ+ Cultural District to allow the neighborhood to access critical resources to support queer small businesses, nonprofits, cultural institutions, and people who make the neighborhood the heart of our city’s LGBTQ community.

San Francisco Bay Times: How has the focus of your campaign changed since your last one for Supervisor, in terms of the issues that you are highlighting?

Supervisor Rafael Mandelman: We are still grappling with many of the same issues that San Francisco and District 8 faced in 2018. COVID certainly made some of them worse, although the City’s strong response to that health crisis has given me renewed hope that, if we set our minds to it and find common ground on a path forward, we can actually make progress on seemingly intractable issues like homelessness, mental health, and housing affordability that have been among my highest priorities from my first day in office. 

Crime and safety are growing concerns in my district and citywide. Property crimes like burglary, vandalism, and auto thefts skyrocketed during the pandemic and District 8 neighborhoods were among the hardest hit. I’d hear from neighbors who had their garage broken into and bikes stolen four times in a year and small business owners who had their storefront windows smashed so many times that they were considering closing for good. I strongly support alternatives to policing and incarceration where those alternatives make sense. However, I also do believe in community policing and I believe that public safety requires the detention and effective rehabilitation of serial offenders.

San Francisco Bay Times: Focusing on the current issues highlighted by your campaign, you have been active in addressing homelessness and mental health problems. Without getting into too much detail, please update us on the 17 individuals who were identified last year as being among the most troubled, and troubling, in the Castro. Can you share a few of their particular stories and what happened to them?

Supervisor Rafael Mandelman: My office maintains a list of people in District 8 who present a danger to themselves or others in the community in the hopes of getting more focused and sustained attention on them from the City. We regularly update and share the list with relevant City departments, as individuals on it commit new crimes or get into other trouble. It is enormously frustrating to see the same very sick and/or troublesome people languishing on the streets for months and years.  Unfortunately, that list has now grown to 35 individuals.

HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) prevents us from knowing too much detailed information about public health interventions to help them, so oftentimes we aren’t fully aware of good outcomes like someone being placed in residential drug or mental health treatment programs. But we have heard about at least a few tragic outcomes.

Mary Botts, whom many neighbors referred to as Princess Leia because of the way she would wear her hair up in buns that recalled the Star Wars character, was one such sad story. She could often be found in Jane Warner or Harvey Milk Plaza, in the bus shelters, sometimes lying on the sidewalk outside Hot Cookie, often darting out into traffic and back. Her fear and anxiety were palpable even to a casual observer.

I, and just about every person who encountered Mary, could see that she was struggling. Lots of folks, including my office, tried to get her help. We appealed to City departments to intervene—to come up with a plan, to get her into treatment, to do something.  And I know that the City tried, in the way that the City tries. There was no shortage of City contacts with Mary: HOT (Homeless Outreach Team), EMS (Emergency Medical Services), DPH (Department of Public Health), SFPD (San Francisco Police Department) all engaged with her. But it wasn’t enough.

​​Mary became one of the nearly 700 people who died from an overdose last year. And her passing was all the more infuriating because she didn’t have to die.  I strongly believe that folks like Mary need to be conserved to keep them safe and alive until they are able to take care of themselves.

San Francisco Bay Times: For each of the issues of focus—homelessness/mental health, public safety, affordable housing, the climate crisis, and public transportation—please share your primary goals, providing as much specific information as possible in terms of active legislation and/or planned efforts to remedy these challenging, long-term issues.

Supervisor Rafael Mandelman: I’m happy to share some of the work we’ve done and are doing in each of these areas!

Homelessness/Mental Health

• Authored legislation for San Francisco to implement housing conservatorships for unhoused individuals suffering from severe mental illness and substance use disorder and pushed for expansion of the City’s use of its existing conservatorship tools.
• Authored legislation to require the City to provide shelter for any unhoused person willing to accept a safe exit from the street.
• Championed Street Crisis Response Teams to provide alternative non-police response for individuals suffering from mental health crises.
• Convened and Co-Chaired the 2019 Methamphetamine Task Force to propose improvements to City response to rising meth use and overdoses.
• Supported drug sobering centers to provide alternatives to emergency room, jail, or the street for individuals suffering from drug intoxication.

Public Safety

• Opposed budget reductions in police training, academies, and overtime to make sure we are able to maintain and increase the diversity of the Police Department and meet critical staffing needs.
• Supported expansion of community policing efforts like neighborhood foot patrols.
• Worked with neighbors, the Police Department, and the District Attorney to facilitate the arrest and charging of drug dealers, violent offenders, and serial burglars.
• Investigated the Superior Court’s repeated pretrial release of individuals on ankle monitors, even when those individuals have repeatedly violated the terms of prior releases.

Affordable Housing

• Introduced legislation to curb monster homes while allowing fourplexes Citywide to encourage production of more units affordable to everyday San Franciscans.
• Worked with Mayor Breed to acquire a parcel for the development of more than 100 units of permanently affordable LGBTQ-affirming senior housing in District 8.
• Worked to identify existing sites and secure funding for additional permanently affordable developments in District 8.
• Authored legislation to prevent landlords from reducing housing services to longtime tenants.

Climate Crisis

• Authored and passed the City’s declaration of climate emergency.
• Authored and passed legislation requiring that new construction be all-electric to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from buildings (currently 40% of San Francisco’s greenhouse gas emissions).
• Authored legislation establishing new onsite water reuse requirements for large new developments and directing the PUC (Public Utilities Commission) to investigate and report back on additional opportunities for water recycling Citywide.

Public Transportation

• Convened the 2019 Transit Reliability Working Group to identify barriers to Muni service improvements and strategies to overcome them.
• As Chair of the County Transportation Authority and Vice Chair of the Transbay Joint Powers Authority, I worked to secure funding to bring Caltrain and High-Speed Rail to the heart of Downtown.
• Currently working to identify potential new revenue for the Transportation Authority, MTA (Municipal Transportation Agency) and BART to improve reliability of local transportation systems.

San Francisco Bay Times: Your staff is tremendous and has a reputation, as do you, for being incredibly dedicated and hard-working. Are they planning to stay on your team should you be reelected?

Supervisor Rafael Mandelman: I have been enormously fortunate to have a great team working with me these last three years, and I certainly hope they will be with me for a long time.

San Francisco Bay Times: Looking back on your current term as Supervisor, what have been some of the most memorable moments for you?

Supervisor Rafael Mandelman: There has been no shortage of amazing moments, but I think some of the most inspiring arose from the creative ways the community found to celebrate Pride during the pandemic: the lighting of the illuminated pink triangle on Twin Peaks for Pride during that dark first year of the pandemic and then again for the whole month of June this year (thank you, Patrick Carney and Ben Davis); the mass gathering of labor and queer community outside Allen Baird’s home organized by Cleve Jones and the Teamsters during this year’s Pride to let the longtime labor activist and friend of Harvey’s know we had not forgotten him; the screening of LGBTQ films in Oracle Park (congratulations, SF Pride and Frameline!); the grassroots marches led by queer people down Polk Street this year and last (thank you, Alex U. Inn and Juanita MORE!).

San Francisco Bay Times: Please mention anything else that you would like for our readers to know.

Supervisor Rafael Mandelman: Just many, many thanks to the Bay Times for your continued coverage of our diverse community.

https://www.rafaelmandelman.com/

Published on November 4, 2021

The post Supervisor Mandelman Shares Targets for Desired Second Time period Whereas Trying Again on the Final Three Years – San Francisco Bay Instances appeared first on Los Gatos News And Events.

You are never too old to start with what you love.

Retired couple Steven and Millie Tani first stumbled upon cosplay three years ago when they needed a costume for a Halloween event. The couple, who have been married for 27 years, haven’t stopped since.

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From Mary Poppins and Chimney Sweep Bert to Captain America and Agent Carter, the couple, who live in Southern California, travel the state attending various events and conventions dressed up as their favorite characters.

Cosplay, a portmanteau made up of the words “costume” and “game,” shows people dressing up as their favorite characters – who can be anything from anime to video game characters.

Here they are at Stan Lee’s Comic Con in LA:

The couple, who refused to reveal their ages but added that they were “both in their 60s”, first learned to cosplay from their daughter, who is a 10 year old veteran cosplayer – but never would have thought that they would end up cosplaying themselves over and over again.

They changed their minds after their first cosplay event.

The couple’s very first cosplay outfit was the adorable older couple Carl and Ellie from Pixar’s Oscar-winning Up.

“Since we kind of look like Carl and Ellie, we decided to try something simple,” the couple told Mashable. “We got a great response from guests … and that’s how our cosplay career began.”

Her daughter also suggested creating a Facebook page dedicated to her cosplay adventures.

The couple say it takes up to two months to make a costume. They try to use items they already have, but sometimes go to thrift stores for additional items or look for supplies online on sites like Ebay and Etsy.

The costumes are sewn by Millie, who describes herself as the “average seamstress with simple outfits”.

Steven and Millie add that when they started they were surprised by the attention they received.

“We are basically both very shy and introverted people. When people started taking photos of us in our cosplays, we were first surprised by the attention we received, ”they said.

“We [also] weren’t sure how people would react to us as an older Asian couple … but many made us feel welcome and … we were more comfortable and made more friends. “

And the couple are showing no signs of slowing down.

“We will continue this cosplay adventure as long as our health lasts,” they said in an email to Mashable.

“We don’t want to sit around in rocking chairs, but rather enjoy our golden years and enjoy life to the full. It’s almost a 24/7 love work to develop new cosplays, so hopefully we can squeeze one in another 10 years. “

Similar video: This Cindy Aurum outfit from Final Fantasy XV is Cosplay Gold

The post Retired couple that cosplays collectively is the very definition of relationship objectives appeared first on Los Gatos News And Events.

You are never too old to do what you love.

Retired couple Steven and Millie Tani first stumbled upon cosplaying three years ago when they needed a costume for a Halloween event. The couple, who have been married for 27 years, have not stopped since then.

From Mary Poppins and Chimney Sweep Bert to Captain America and Agent Carter, the couple, who live in Southern California, travel the state attending various events and conventions dressed up as their favorite characters.

Cosplay, a portmanteau of the words “costume” and “play,” sees people dressing up as their favorite characters – from anime to video game characters.

Here they are at Stan Lee’s Comic Con in LA:

The couple, who refused to reveal their ages but added that they were “both in their 60s”, first learned cosplaying through their daughter, who is a 10-year-old cosplayer – but never thought she would end up would repeatedly cosplay themselves.

They changed their minds after their first cosplay event.

The couple’s very first cosplay outfit was the adorable elderly couple Carl and Ellie from Pixar’s Oscar-winning Up.

“Since we kind of look like Carl and Ellie, we decided to try something simple,” the couple told Mashable. “We got a wonderful reaction from the guests … and that’s how our cosplayer career began.”

Her daughter also suggested creating a Facebook page dedicated to her cosplaying adventures.

The couple say it takes them up to two months to make a costume. They try to use items they already have but sometimes go to thrift stores to buy additional items or look for supplies online on sites like Ebay and Etsy.

The costumes are sewn by Millie, who considers herself the “average seamstress who can make simple outfits”.

Steven and Millie add that when they started they were surprised by the attention they got.

“We’re both basically very shy and introverted. When people started photographing us in our cosplays, we were first amazed at the attention we got,” they said.

“We [also] I wasn’t sure how people would react to us as an older Asian couple … but many greeted us and … we were more comfortable and made more new friends. “

And the couple are showing no signs of slowing down.

“We will continue this cosplay adventure as long as our health is preserved,” they said in an email to Mashable.

“We don’t want to sit around in rocking chairs because we want to enjoy our golden years and enjoy life to the fullest. It’s almost a 24-hour love work to develop new cosplays, so hopefully we can squeeze into another one.” ten years.”

The post Retired couple that cosplays collectively is the very definition of relationship targets appeared first on Los Gatos News And Events.

Today, two of the state’s largest districts, San Francisco Unified and Los Angeles Unified, began a return to face-to-face learning.

After months of intense back and forth, dozens of preschools and elementary schools opened their doors in San Francisco.

What lessons have we learned and where do we go from here? We had a special guest with us at Getting Answers, California State School Superintendent Tony Thurmond.

RELATED: Some SFUSD students are returning to class for the first time since March 2020

That return to school for SFUSD and to Los Angeles was such a struggle. California was one of the last countries in the county to reopen schools. Why do you think this took so long here in San Francisco and across the state, and what ultimately helped solve this problem?

“You know you can look for a lot of reasons, but I’d point it out if we think about what we were just a few months ago. We had some of the highest rates of COVID-19 infection during the winter,” Thurmond said. “So much so that many of our counties had absolutely no hospital bed capacity. We have suffered more than 60,000 deaths and more than three and a half million COVID-19 cases. We have been in a difficult position. But lately where we have now gotten a clear picture how to use rapid COVID-19 testing and ventilation, and other resources, will enable us to keep our schools open safely, besides that, we now have a way our schools can be opened and stay open, safe and us are working with 1,000 school districts across the state to make this happen. I think we’re at 9,000 out of 10,000 of our open schools that will be open soon, so obviously things have really turned in a different direction. “

RELATED: “Sign of Hope”: More than 30 San Francisco Public Schools Set to Reopen

Now the vaccination authorization is open from this week for people aged 16 and over. State law requires that public school students receive the vaccines they need. What’s your plan for the COVID-19 vaccine?

“Yeah, it’s exciting that we’re going to see this week that 16 years and older, like you said, can get the vaccine,” Thurmond said. “Look, I am aware of your discussions with the FDA and CDC about the ability to distribute vaccines to young people younger than 12. Some have asked some manufacturers and we are monitoring this and for sure I don’t think it is It is possible to really get into a conversation about the requirement of the vaccine until we have heard from our top health and safety staff whether the vaccine can be safely made available to young people, and we are monitoring and looking forward to it to learn more about what we could do next. “

RELATED: Pfizer Asks FDA To Expand COVID Vaccine Use To Adolescents Ages 12-15

He mentioned the importance of public information in clearing up uncertainties about the vaccine, which is why webinars helped create confusion.

“I did a webinar last week to focus on how we can get more vaccines in the Latino community, you know, how we get over fears,” Thurmond said. “On Wednesday we’re running a similar webinar on vaccines for the African American community. I think there are people with concerns from all walks of life, and we’re trying to get a message across that vaccines are safe. You know, I’m proud to say it was painless and quick. And I think we’re in a place now where we’re trying to help everyone see the benefits of vaccines. “

We have to ask about this developing situation in Knoxville. Several people shot at a local high school, including a Knoxville police officer. Obviously, that’s way out of your reach. But we saw school shootings here in the state, back in November 2019 in Santa Clarita, just before the pandemic. In this regard, what steps can you take to make hallways safer for the safety of students and parents?

“It was so heartbreaking to learn about the Nashville shooting, and obviously our hearts go out to these families, those who were affected,” Thurmond said. “You know, as you say, we worked with schools before the pandemic to prevent shootouts, and we work with programs like the Mental Health First Aid program, which trains teachers and educators to recognize someone Who it could be I support what President Biden is calling for about how we get these guns off our streets and look to these communities for the memento of the executive branch. “”

RELATED: Knoxville School Shootout: Student Killed After Firing On TN School Officials

The CDC director said just last week that she does not foresee that schools will have to be closed again for security reasons for these new COVID-19 variants. However, new research shows that they may be much more prevalent in schools than initially thought. What is your idea about it?

“The most important thing I can say is that people have to keep wearing face masks and using social distancing,” Thurmond said. “It’s scary to hear that all of these other states, you know, Utah, Texas, have all of these places that said you don’t have to wear a mask.” I think they miss the point. Even with the vaccine, a person can transmit COVID-19 and so we need to think about it. I think the research is mixed, but I trust what Dr. Fauci said. Dr. Fauci has said we are seeing a plateau of falls, but at a much higher rate than predicted, which tells us that there is a chance that it may have to be shut down again. I think we can control our own destiny. “

Social inequalities in education only got worse during this pandemic, and we got clear signs of how. Distance learning, internet access, parents who have multiple jobs, etc. How is your office working to resolve this at the state level?

“You know I am grateful,” said Thurmond. “This was the system that had to go into distance learning overnight, and our system wasn’t designed for it, and that also means we discovered nearly a million children with no access to high-speed internet who got caught in the pandemic, many, too without a computer. Although a lot of our teachers and educators are really ajar, our students and parents have been resilient, even though people have leaned to try to get our distance learning to work, there have been some inevitable bumps and the same learning gaps that we tried to close many of these loopholes exacerbated during the pandemic. “

RELATED: Parents, Students, who are excited to see SFUSD Schools Reopen for In-Person Learning

What about the psychological side of things? It is clear that this is a crisis for so many teenagers and young adults.

“I think the number one thing we should look out for when students are just returning to campus is how well their mental health is working and where they need support.” said Thurmond. “This is so different, they’ve been gone for a year, many of them don’t have direct contact with students and their peers. And so we’re working on a number of mental health programs right now, including medical and other I have a national coalition on mental health Health working with our psychologists and others to support our students. The number one social-emotional well-being of our students is the number one thing to look out for right now, and how we can support our students, and we are doing it. “

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