Day Five Update from Supervisor Rice

Day Five

 

Friends,

 

It’s Friday, March 20, day five of Marin’s “Shelter in Place” order, day one of a similar statewide order to slow the spread of the Coronavirus. A week ago, we were thinking basic best hygiene; today we are asking residents to stay at home, minimize social interactions, and prepare for weeks if not months of a different way of living.

 

Schools are closed. Our K-12 kids are staying home. Our college students are coming home. 2020 graduates across the nation will likely be convening virtually to mark the milestone of graduation and commencement. Happy gatherings, more somber goodbyes, the milestones of life that bring us together will have to be celebrated, memorialized in different ways during this time of social distancing. One day, hopefully not too far in the future, when we can gather, the power of being together will be just that more meaningful.

 

These are unprecedented times, with every member of our community, across public and private sectors -- being asked to radically modify our work and personal lives in order to prevent a public health disaster. Everyone will be impacted –socially, and economically -- some much more severely than others. At the local level, we have already begun taking steps to blunt the economic blow particularly for our most disadvantaged, our most vulnerable, those who will be hit hardest most immediately, while we wait for state and federal government action and programs to kick-in. I include info on these actions below.

 

First and Foremost – Sign up!

 

If you have not done so yet, please sign up to receive emailed COVID-19 updates from County of Marin. The covid-19 website is being updated daily with newest information related to the Coronavirus in Marin, includes a comprehensive FAQ sheet answering the myriad of questions being asked by residents regarding the virus, the Shelter-in-Place order, and more. But still feel free to contact me and/or my office (see phone numbers below) with any questions.

 

Countywide Eviction Moratorium

 

The Marin County Board of Supervisors plans to consider a resolution March 24 that would prevent Marin County residents and business owners from being evicted because of a sudden loss of income tied to the COVID-19 pandemic. The moratorium would last until May 31.

 

If adopted, the resolution will provide temporary protection to renters and commercial lease holders whose residency and businesses may be jeopardized by the loss of income related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

 

Additionally, on March 18, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) authorized the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) to implement an immediate foreclosure and eviction moratorium for single family homeowners with FHA-insured mortgages for the next 60 days. And the Governor’s executive order N-28-20 requested that financial institutions holding home or commercial mortgages implement moratoriums on foreclosures when foreclosure/eviction arises out of financial circumstances caused by Covid-19.

 

The County’s moratorium on eviction would provide that if a residential tenant or commercial small business lease holder has not made a timely rent payment that was due on or after March 18, the landlord cannot evict if the tenant provides notice within 30 days after the rent was due that they are unable to pay because of financial impacts related to COVID-19.

 

Click here for the press release.

Emergency Financial Assistance

The County of Marin and Marin Community Foundation (MCF) have joined to create a $1 million fund to assist vulnerable populations amid the COVID-19 response. MCF allocated $500,000, with the County matching from its General Fund, to address some of the most urgent safety-net needs for residents.

The fund will be allocated over the next two months to soften the social and economic impacts of the pandemic with five main efforts:

• Emergency rental assistance for low-income residents
• Expanded food for economically disadvantaged families
• Expanded meals for seniors
• Wi-Fi mobile access for economically disadvantaged students
• Emergency childcare for health care workers and emergency responders

 See the press release for more detail.

 

The Bad Guys (and Gals) are Still Out There

 

PG&E has asked us to share the following as they have reports from customers regarding scam email and phone calls by people representing themselves as PG&E reps.

• Don’t be fooled! Scammers are including specific names of customers, guess dollar amounts owed and disguise their phone number with caller ID as “PG&E” or “Pacific Gas & Electric.”
• PG&E announced a moratorium on service disconnections for non-payment, effective immediately for both residential and commercial customers.
• Customers should assume any threat related to a disruption in service for non-payment is a scam.
• PG&E will never ask for personal information or a credit card number over the phone.
• Anyone who has received such a call can report it immediately by calling PG&E at 1-800-743-5000 or visit www.pge.com/scams.

Talking Toilet Paper (and I’m not talking about hoarding!)

 

Everyone’s home and everyone’s doing a lot of sanitizing, using disposable wipes as if they owned stock in Clorox. All good, unless that wipe gets put in the toilet. Our sanitary districts across the county are reminding all residents of the importance of only flushing toilet paper down the toilet. Sanitary wipes marketed and sold as “flushable wipes” aren’t and can severely impact the sewer pipes in your neighborhood causing blockages and overflows into your home. 

 

Paper towels, disinfecting wipes, flushable wipes, and all other materials besides toilet paper should always be disposed of properly inside of a trash container. The sewer system is not designed for thicker wipes and paper products. 

 

If you’re not convinced yet, and seriously bored, watch the following video to learn more

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_YMR7iG1i8I 

 

Lastly, read this recent press release for information on how County departments are adjusting to the shelter-in-place order.

 

 

 

Contact Info:

Supervisor Katie Rice

415-473-7825

krice@marincounty.org

www.facebook.com/D2KatieRice

 

District 2 Aides:

Nancy Vernon

415-473-7351

nvernon@marincounty.org

 

Jen Gauna

415-473-6159

jgauna@marincounty.org