July 23, 2021

July 23, 2021

 

I hope this newsletter finds you and your family safe, healthy, enjoying a return to “normal” and celebrating all that summertime in Marin has to offer. I say this while acknowledging a recent uptick in infections as the highly transmissible Delta variant establishes itself in Marin County resulting in public health’s recommendation for folks to continue wearing masks when indoors in public settings regardless of vaccination status.

This is not to say that the vaccine is not working. All the vaccines are highly effective against the Corona-virus including the Celta variant. While it's still possible for fully vaccinated individuals to become infected, for those very few “break-through” cases, the risk of serious illness is dramatically reduced.

My thanks to the majority of Marinites who have complied with health orders, who masked and social-distanced, who have gotten vaccinated when they became eligible. Marin County continues to have the highest COVID-19 vaccination rate in California (93% of eligible residents aged 12 and older having received at least one dose of the vaccine, and over 85% having completed a vaccine series). But there are over 60,000 Marinites (including 30,000 children under 12) who are not vaccinated and remain at risk. So, asking that you continue to follow the recommendation of our public health officer (and the PHOs of most other Bay Area counties) to continue wearing that mask – out of an abundance of caution for both your health and the community at large.

Board Adopts $683M County Budget for 2021-22

A revived economy, federal relief funds, and an historic state budget surplus, all served to balance the County’s 2021-22 budget and then some. The Board of Supervisors approved the budget on June 23^rd after three days of public hearings. The FY 20/21 budget continues the County’s efforts to curtail the COVID-19 pandemic, maintain service levels, address emerging needs, and make thoughtful investments in our top community priorities and longer term goals including Racial Equity, Climate Change, Affordable Housing, Disaster Preparedness and County Infrastructure.

The more than $50 million in one-time federal relief and stimulus funding will allow additional investment in these areas and in addition allow us to continue to grow our permanent supportive housing capacity, make fire department facility improvements, and partner with the cities and towns to address homelessness, expand mobile crisis response and invest in economic vitality.

While this year’s All-Funds budget is balanced and benefitting from the windfall of federal and state one-time monies, shortfalls for the General Fund budget are projected in 2023 as the County faces the structural reality of being a “slow growth” county relying primarily on property tax revenue for general fund expenditures. As a slow-growth county, costs for current service levels typically grow at a faster pace than local property tax revenues which are expected to grow by 4% this year.

I encourage folks to take a look at the Budget Overview for more detail on the 21/22 budget. Additional information on county programs can be found on the County's open data site.

Restrictive Covenant Project

On July 12, the County launched the Marin Restrictive Covenant Project a special project designed to educate, involve, and inform Marin County residents of the history and significance of government policies and programs around housing that were a primary factor in creating segregated communities in Marin throughout the 40’s, 50’s and 60’s a period of significant housing growth in the county. The use of restrictive covenants – legal until the mid-60’s – was used to prohibit the purchase, lease, or occupation of a property to anyone other than people of “white/Caucasian/European descent.” While those covenants are illegal today, the language remains in property deeds throughout Marin.

Current and former residents of Marin County are invited to participate in the RCP in several different ways – through examination of the language in their own property deeds, (if found, the property owner can record a Restrictive Covenant Modification document), and/or by sharing your own family’s story, or experience, in pursuing homeownership in Marin County.

The Restrictive covenants project is a collaboration of the Community Development Agency, the County’s Office of Equity, the Assessor-Recorder’s Office, my office and Marin County Free Library.

Reflecting

The past year (plus) brought us more than a pandemic and demanded more than mask-wearing and social distancing. COVID required new ways of navigating our personal and professional lives. It changed the way we work, shop, go to school, and socialize. It has required sacrifice, creativity, and cooperation.

With our faces masked and reflected on a dashboard that displayed infection rates, hospitalization, mortality and the demographics of those communities being hit the hardest, we were faced with the reality of the racial disparities that exist within our own county and how they play out in health and housing, wealth and work. The murder of George Floyd triggered a nationwide re-awakening and need to reckon with racism and injustice in our country and county. And in the midst of it all, a devastating wildfire season cloaked our community in apocalyptic conditions followed by the driest winter on record, reminding us not only of our wildfire risk, but also of the urgency to address climate change.

This past year was dominated by challenges unforeseen, others too long ignored. It revealed our capacity and strengths at the same time it exposed our flaws and vulnerabilities. It reminded us of our responsibility to one another and of what we can achieve when we work together. Most of all, for me, it reinforced the importance of building inclusive, equitable, resilient communities whether we are working to reduce our wildfire risk, house the homeless, address aging public infrastructure, or accelerate climate action plans.

Contact Info:
Supervisor Katie Rice
415-473-7825
krice@marincounty.org

District 2 Aides:
Nancy Vernon
415-473-7351
nvernon@marincounty.org
Crystal Martinez
415-473-6159
cmartinez@marincounty.org