Author: Alfredo Casuso

Media Contact:
DP&A, Inc. / David Perry / news@davidperry.com / (415) 676-7007

LYRIC Founder Carmen Vázquez
Remembered as “Champion of Economic and Social Justice”

Longtime LGBTQ Advocate & Activist
Died from COVID-19 January 27 in New York City

29 January 2021 – San Francisco:  Carmen Vázquez, who died on January 27 in New York City from complications due to COVID, is remembered as a “champion of social justice” for her work in helping found LYRIC (www.lyric.org) and creative “safes spaces and critical services for LGBTQ youth.” She was 72.

“LYRIC is deeply saddened by Carmen Vázquez’s passing. Carmen was one of the community leaders that founded LYRIC in 1988 to create safer spaces and provide critical services for LGBTQQ youth,” said a statement on behalf of the LYRIC staff and board.  “As a long-time LGBTQ activist and organizer, Carmen worked tirelessly to improve the lives of others.  We thank Carmen for her remarkable contributions to our community and the greater social justice movement.”

In addition to her work on behalf of LYRIC, Vázquez, a butch lesbian, was the founding director of the Women’s Building in San Francisco and the LGBT Health & Human Services Network, a coalition of over 55 organizations and groups in New York advocating for LGBTQ health and human services.

“Carmen was a tireless champion of economic and social justice,” said LYRIC Interim Executive Director Toni Newman. “Her death would always have been a great loss to our community. Coming now during COVID, and because of COVID, is yet another example of how marginalized communities are at risk from the current pandemic.”

LYRIC is a leader in the San Francisco Bay Area offering safe spaces, workforce development, healthcare navigation, individual counseling, and group-based community building to marginalized low-income LGBTQQ+ youth.  During the COVID-19 pandemic, LYRIC has continued its vital work for LGBTQQ youth in our community. LYRIC’s mission is to build community and inspire positive social change through education enhancement, career trainings, health promotion, and leadership development with lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and questioning (LGBTQQ) youth, their families, and allies of all races, classes, genders, and abilities. For more information and to make a donation, go to www.lyric.org  

For the complete text of Mayor Breed’s State of the City speech, go to: https://sfmayor.org/mayor-london-n-breeds-2021-state-city-address

For the video of the State of the City, go to: 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LTV0CTigETs

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Thursday, January 28, 2021

Contact: Mayor’s Office of Communications, mayorspressoffice@sfgov.org

*** PRESS RELEASE ***

MAYOR LONDON BREED DELIVERS STATE OF THE CITY ADDRESS

Mayor Breed lays out her vision for San Francisco’s recovery from COVID-19, with continued focus on public health, supporting small businesses, creating more housing, and addressing challenges around mental health and homelessness

San Francisco, CA — Mayor London N. Breed today delivered the State of the City, in which she laid out her vision for San Francisco’s recovery from COVID-19 and her policy priorities for 2021, including helping small businesses, building housing, advancing her Homelessness Recovery Plan, getting kids back in school, investing in infrastructure projects that create jobs, and supporting arts and cultural institutions.

Drawing on San Francisco’s history of resilience, Mayor Breed spoke of her optimism for the future of San Francisco and her goals to ensure the city continues its strong COVID-19 response and get on the road to recovery: “The fact is the state of our city is resilient, and it is resilient because of what all of us, every one of us, have accomplished this past year,” said Mayor Breed.

Due to COVID-19, the speech was live streamed from the Moscone, and the public was invited to watch virtually. The Moscone Center, which is San Francisco’s main convention center, has served as the City’s COVID-19 Command Center since March 2020. San Francisco’s second high-volume vaccination site will soon open at the Moscone Center, following the first high-volume vaccination site which opened last week at City College. 

Mayor Breed spoke of the COVID-19 pandemic and the challenges of the past year. She recognized the strength and sacrifice of San Franciscans, and their efforts to protect one another over the past year: “Years from now, people will look back on what we’ve done, and I hope they will remember not the frustration and pain we feel now, but the love we showed, the lives we saved. Take pride in that, San Francisco. Find hope in that.”

Mayor Breed outlined her plans for San Francisco’s recovery and expressed her confidence in the future of San Francisco: “San Francisco has always been and will continue to be a magnet, a destination, a place that draws people. We are the City of Pride. Today, with hard lessons learned, and so much yet to do, I believe we are at the start of an incredible recovery. We aren’t just going to repair. We are going to reinvigorate. To come back even stronger.” 

To support San Francisco’s recovery, Mayor Breed presented her policy priorities for this year to create jobs, support businesses, and ensure San Franciscans have opportunities to succeed and thrive. These efforts include cutting red tape that makes it difficult to open and operate small businesses, directing more than $3.5 billion in public infrastructure investments, and continuing the Mayor’s commitment to building 5,000 units of housing per year and streamlining the housing approval process. 

She commended the work of San Francisco’s health care workers and other frontline workers throughout the pandemic. In particular, Mayor Breed spoke of the health care workers at Laguna Honda Hospital, and their efforts to keep residents and employees safe throughout the pandemic, and most recently, to administer COVID-19 vaccines to residents and workers. As of Wednesday, January 27, Laguna Honda residents have received two doses of the vaccine and are fully vaccinated. 

“The men and women at Laguna Honda, the nurses, doctors, paramedics, and staff there, along with all those taking care of people in need across the City, they are the heroes. They are the best of us. […] Thanks to our frontline workers, the Department of Public Health, and everyone who did their part, COVID was contained at Laguna Honda.”

Additionally, Mayor Breed expressed optimism with the recently announced reopening of some businesses and activities, and the ongoing administration of COVID-19 vaccines. She referenced San Francisco’s plan to facilitate 10,000 vaccine doses per day, as soon as supply is available, and recognized the private healthcare partners who are working with the City to make that possible.

“Today, San Francisco can begin to recover. Today, we can begin to re-open our doors, re-open our businesses, begin to resume our lives. With some restrictions, and many, many precautions, of course…but we are reopening. We are vaccinating more and more people each day, and very soon we will open another large vaccination site right here at Moscone Center. And with support from the state and the new Biden-Harris administration in the White House, we have a plan to administer 10,000 vaccinations a day.”

Additionally, Mayor Breed spoke of the importance of advancing her Homelessness Recovery Plan, which includes the creation of 1,500 units of Permanent Supportive Housing, supporting San Francisco families by working with the School District to get kids back in school, and helping arts and cultural institutions—such as music venues, clubs, and bars—survive the pandemic and reopen. She committed to continuing reforms to the criminal justice system through programs like the Street Crisis Response Teams, which divert non-criminal 911 calls away from police and allow officers to focus on violent crimes and burglaries.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Monday, January 25, 2021

Contact: San Francisco Joint Information Center, dempress@sfgov.org  

*** PRESS RELEASE ***

SAN FRANCISCO TO REOPEN SOME ACTIVITIES IN RESPONSE TO STATE LIFTING REGIONAL STAY AT HOME ORDER

With the State lifting the Bay Area Regional Stay at Home Order, San Francisco on January 28 will reopen key sectors allowed by the State’s purple tier, with some additional safety precautions given the City’s high case rate

San Francisco, CA — Mayor London N. Breed and Director of Health Dr. Grant Colfax today announced that San Francisco will resume some businesses and activities, beginning the morning of Thursday, January 28, after the state announced it would lift mandatory regional restrictions.

As of today, the state is lifting its Regional Stay at Home Order, in place for the Bay Area since December 17. The state is expected to assign San Francisco to a tier on itsBlueprint for a Safer Economy on Tuesday, January 26. This action gives San Francisco the ability to lessen requirements under the local Stay at Home Order issued on December 4 when San Francisco and other Bay Area counties pre-emptively put safety steps in place to manage a surge of COVID-19 cases.

Based on local analysis of the public health indicators, San Francisco expects it will be assigned to the state’s purple tier – the most limited – and is proceeding with reopening accordingly. San Francisco will reopen certain businesses and activities allowed in the purple tier starting Thursday at 8:00 a.m., with specific additional safeguards to limit the spread of the virus.   

“Today marks an important turning point that I hope we can continue to build upon. San Francisco pre-emptively adopted the Stay at Home Order in an attempt to bend the curve so that we could protect our residents, control the surge, and move forward again as quickly as possible,” said Mayor Breed. “We see now the sacrifices that our residents and businesses made are paying off, and I want to thank them on behalf of our City. We are moving the vaccines as quickly as possible, but there is still more virus in our community than there ever has been, and we need to proceed cautiously and remain diligent. That’s how we will move forward together.”

The activities that will reopen include outdoor dining with tables of no more than two households, up to six people, and spaced a minimum of 6 feet apart; indoor or outdoor personal services, except those that require a mask to be removed; outdoor zoos and museums; small outdoor gatherings; and expanded capacity on activities that were minimized during the Stay at Home Order. In addition, San Francisco will allow hotels to resume operations for tourism use, but San Francisco will maintain its mandatory local travel quarantine. San Francisco will continue requiring travelers from outside of the Bay Area to quarantine for 10 days, aligning with the State requirement necessitating that hotels only accept and honor reservations made by travelers from outside the Bay Area that are for 10 days or more. 

San Francisco will continue the requirement first put in place by the State that limits non-essential businesses from operating or anyone from gathering with members outside of their household between the hours of 10:00 p.m. and 5:00 a.m. People can continue to leave their homes during that time for any other reason. This requirement will remain in effect until San Francisco is assigned to the State’s red tier.

“Thanks to the hard work of everyone in San Francisco, we have been able to slow down this surge of COVID-19 cases and with our continued perseverance, we can prevent future surges and continue to safely reopen more activities,” said Dr. Grant Colfax, Director of the San Francisco Department of Public Health. “To do that, we must continue all of the preventive measures that we all know well, even as we roll out the vaccine. Staying vigilant will be critical to our long term success.”

The Bay Area Regional Stay at Home Order was put into place by the State of California on December 17 due to surging cases and hospitalizations that threatened ICU capacity. At this point, the region’s ICU capacity has stabilized and cases and hospitalizations are trending down, prompting the State to lift the order. San Francisco’s actual ICU capacity holds steady at more than 25% and its hospitalization and case rates are declining. Though San Francisco’s case rate is still nearly twice the rate that would be required to advance to the red tier, San Francisco will proceed in lifting its local Stay at Home Order to resume activities allowed by the State in the purple tier, with certain additional safety limitations.

San Francisco experienced a significant surge in COVID-19 cases in the fall that escalated further in December. The average number of COVID cases increased more than tenfold from 32 in mid-October to 372 at the surge’s peak. Currently, San Francisco is currently averaging 261 new COVID-19 cases per day; however, the case rate is declining. Because of the prevalence of the virus, and particularly considering the emergence of new, extremely contagious variants, it remains critical that San Franciscans continue with the preventive measures that limit the spread of the virus, like wearing a face covering whenever you are outside your home, including during exercise; washing hands regularly; and maintaining physical distance. To continue on the path of re-opening, San Francisco’s case rate and the hospitalization rate will need to keep declining.

The City is taking measured steps in order to balance the public health harms of COVID-19 transmission and public health harms of economic stress. The activities allowed under the purple tier are primarily outdoors or, when indoors, are restricted to low-volume activities that minimize the number of people interacting. San Francisco is updating its health order to come into close alignment with the State, although there remain a few areas of departure where it is important to minimize the risk to public health in a dense urban environment. 

“The reopening of our San Francisco business community is a tremendous step to our economic recovery. The sacrifices we’re making to slow and crush the holiday surge are working,” said Joaquín Torres, Director of the Office of Economic and Workforce Development. “While we are cautiously optimistic, we know this pandemic has evolved with new strains of the virus that are more contagious. The opening of our economy must not come at the expense of our public health. We must remain vigilant for our community and for one another including our essential workers and vulnerable residents who are bearing the brunt of COVID-19 cases and continue to follow safety measures outlined in our health orders.”

On Wednesday, January 27, the San Francisco Department of Public Health will issue final health and safety guidelines to reopen activities allowed under the purple tier of the State’s Blueprint for a Safe Economy, effective 8:00 a.m. on Thursday January 28. The following activities will be opened or expanded under the new health order.

Activities to Resume Thursday, January 28

The following activities may be reopened/allowed to resume:

• Personal Services. Indoor and outdoor personal services establishments, including hair and nail salons, barbers, tattoo, piercing, and massage services may reopen, but facial coverings are required to be worn at all times. Services that would necessitate the removal of facial coverings are not allowed at this point.
• Outdoor Dining. Outdoor dining may resume. It is limited to up to 6 people total from up to two households at a table. Per State requirements, barriers between tables can no longer serve as an alternative to distancing tables 6 feet or more. Live entertainment is allowed except for singing or brass or wind instruments.
• Outdoor Museums and Zoos. Outdoor operations for museums and zoos may resume, though zoos are capped at 50% capacity not including personnel. Concessions are allowed under the guidance of retail or outdoor dining according to the type of concessions. 
• Outdoor Family Entertainment Centers. Family entertainment such as skate parks, batting cages, miniature golf, kart racing, and laser tag or paintball may resume outdoor operations. Roller and ice skating rinks may operate at 25% capacity. Concessions are allowed under the guidance of retail or outdoor dining according to the type of concessions.
• Open Air Boats and Busses. Open air boats and busses may operate outdoor operations of up to 12 passengers or physically distanced groups of 12, if social distancing can be maintained between groups. Concessions are allowed under the guidance of retail or outdoor dining according to the type of concessions.
• Small Gatherings. Members of up to 3 households with a maximum of 12 people total may gather outdoors if social distance can be maintained and no food or drink is being consumed. If food or drink is being consumed, only members from two households of up to 6 people total is allowed. 
• Indoor Fitness. 1:1 personal training is allowed to resume indoors with no more than 3 people, including the customer, the trainer and a support staff.
• Indoor Funerals. Indoor funerals may take place with up to 12 people.

The following activities may expand their operating capacity:

• Grocery Stores. Standalone grocery stores may operate at 50% customer capacity, not including personnel, up from 35%.
• Retail. All retail including low-contact retail services such as dog groomers, shoe, electronics and similar repair services may operate at 25% customer capacity, not including personnel, up from 20%. For enclosed shopping malls, any common areas and food courts must remain closed. 
• Hotels and Lodging. Hotels and lodging may accept reservations for tourist use from in-state and out of state guests. Out of Bay Area guests are required to quarantine for 10 days and must make a reservation for 10 days or longer in order to do so. Indoor gyms, meeting rooms, ballrooms and dining must remain closed, though outdoor dining can resume and room service can continue.
• Outdoor Fitness. Removes the 12-person cap on outdoor fitness so long as social distancing can be met, and increases the fitness class cap to 25.
• Youth sports. Youth sports without spectators are allowed if it is part of a childcare or out of school time (OST) program or part of an organized and supervised youth sports program. Additionally, low-contact youth sports that are allowed by the state in the purple tier may resume such as dancing, biking, no-contact martial arts, lawn bowling, or bocce ball. Distancing and face coverings must be in place at all times.
• Outdoor Recreation. Up to three households may engage in recreational activities that allow social distancing, including low-contact sports such as hiking, biking, dancing, and including those that share equipment such as balls and Frisbees.
• Golf and Tennis. Expands to allow foursomes for golf, but limits to one household per cart and requires staggered tee times. Expands to allow doubles for tennis limited to members of one household per team. Pickleball remains limited to singles per State requirements.
• Outdoor Religious and Political Gatherings. Removes the 200-person cap to allow religious and political activities to take place unrestricted as long as social distancing can be maintained.

The City will post the revised Health Order with detailed requirements to its webpage on Wednesday, January 27, effective Thursday, January 28 at 8:00 a.m. The reopening of businesses and activities will increase travel and interaction throughout the city, which risks increasing community spread of the virus and an increase in cases and hospitalizations. With new more contagious variants, it is unclear how the virus will respond to more activity. Conversely, as the vaccine is distributed and increasing numbers of people are inoculated against the virus, particularly those who are most vulnerable, San Francisco hopes to gain momentum in reopening the City and beginning its recovery.

Public health officials will regularly assess the Key Public Health Indicators, particularly new positive case counts and hospitalizations to ensure San Francisco has the necessary resources available for those who contract COVID-19. The phasing of additional activities is structured to maximize the City’s ability to track these local health indicators and ensure that San Francisco continues to manage its risk and to protect public health. While San Francisco recognizes and is attempting to align with the State’s thresholds, the City will continue on a reopening path based on its local health indicators and the unique challenges and successes of its local reopening. San Francisco’s reopening updates are available online at SF.gov/reopening.

###

Media Contact: David Perry & Associates, Inc. / news@davidperry.com / (415) 676-7007

Governor Newsom Reappoints San Francisco Attorney Brett Gladstone to California Architects Board

22 January 2021 – San Francisco, CA: Brett Gladstone, Esq. longtime land-use expert and San Francisco  real estate attorney for over 36 years, has been reappointed to the California Architects Board by California Governor Gavin Newsom.  Gladstone was first appointed in 2019.

“Brett has been a steadfast voice for both the LGBTQ and the  real estate development  community for decades,” stated Paul Pendergast, President and founder of BuildOUT California. “His voice is especially appreciated by all of us who seek to represent our affiliated industries with diversity and dedication.”

“ Although remaining a full time attorney,  I look forward to continuing to work with my fellow Board Members and our great staff , and I am grateful the Governor has given me this opportunity,” said Gladstone.   “Architects in this state are going through a difficult time given the effects of COVID and its impact on state-wide construction, and I look forward to assisting  in any way I can.  I commend BuildOUT for its strong advocacy, technical assistance and training for our community in the last several years.   I hope to be able to partner with BuildOUT even more in the future.”

Gladstone, 63, has been an Of Counsel Real Estate Attorney at Goldstein, Gellman, Melbostad, Harris & McSparran LLP since 2020. He was a Partner at  the large San Francisco law firm  Hanson Bridgett from 2013 to 2020 and an Attorney and Partner at Gladstone & Associates from 1989 to 2013. Gladstone is a member of the Tenderloin Museum Board of Directors. He earned a Juris Doctor degree from Duke University School of Law after graduating from Harvard College (magna cum laude) in 1980.

About BuildOUT California:

BuildOUT California is the world’s first LGBT Industry Association dedicated to the sustainable growth of LGBT owned & certified businesses, and our allies, in the fields of Architecture, Engineering, Construction Services, Real Estate Development, and Related Industries. BuildOUT California’s efforts are directed toward advocacy at the regional, statewide and national levels, providing relevant technical assistance & training and delivering connections that lead to measurable business growth. BuildOUT California’s 21 Founders represent over 620 years of experience in the A&E/Construction industries. For more information, visit www.buildoutcalifornia.org

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Friday, January 22, 2021

Contact: Mayor’s Office of Communications, mayorspressoffice@sfgov.org

*** PRESS RELEASE ***

SAN FRANCISCO LAUNCHES FIRST HIGH-VOLUME COVID‑19 VACCINATION SITE

The City will partner with UCSF Health to operate the high-volume vaccination site at City College of San Francisco’s Ocean Avenue Campus, which will further ramp up when supply increases

San Francisco, CA — Mayor London N. Breed and Director of Health Dr. Grant Colfax today announced the launch of the first high-volume vaccination site in San Francisco, which is part of the City’s plan to get as many people vaccinated as soon as possible. The new vaccination site is located at City College of San Francisco’s main campus on Ocean Avenue in the Oceanview, Merced Heights, Ingleside (OMI) neighborhood. This location, which is operated by the City and staffed in partnership with UCSF Health, is the first of three high-volume vaccination sites announced by Mayor Breed last week. 

Two additional high-volume vaccination sites will be located at the Moscone Center in SoMa and the SF Market in the Bayview. These high-volume sites will serve anyone eligible to receive the vaccine regardless of health coverage (by appointment only) and are part of San Francisco’s planned network of vaccination sites to facilitate the quick and efficient delivery of COVID-19 vaccines. 

The high-volume vaccination sites, like the new site at City College, will be complemented by targeted efforts to ensure communities most highly-impacted by COVID-19 receive equitable access to the vaccine. These targeted efforts include mobile vaccination teams, community vaccination sites, San Francisco Department of Public Health’s community clinics, and other safety net clinics in neighborhoods such as Chinatown, the Mission, the Western Addition, and the Bayview.

“Large vaccination sites like this one at City College are going to be critical for getting people vaccinated quickly and safely, and getting our City on the road to recovery. This is an all-hands effort where we are working with our health care partners and City College to create a site that will be able to handle thousands of vaccinations per day once we have vaccine doses we need,” said Mayor Breed. “San Francisco has a plan and we are ready to distribute 10,000 doses per day once we have enough vaccine. To fully deliver this plan, we need more vaccine and we will continue to do everything we can to be ready when our supply of vaccine does increase.”

The City College high-volume vaccination site will begin with an initial launch to test operations, establish successful processes, and ensure safety for patients and workers. Appointments are required and will remain limited in the short-term due to extremely constrained and unpredictable vaccine supply coming to San Francisco. The launch of this site will allow the City and UCSF to effectively build the vaccination infrastructure needed so that when more vaccine supply is available it can be quickly, efficiently, and equitably distributed. 

The City College vaccination site will operate from 8:00 am – 4:00 pm this Friday 1/22, Saturday 1/23 and Sunday 1/24, by appointment only. The hours for the week of January 25, 2021 will be determined based on vaccine supply.

Due to the limited vaccine supply at this time, appointments at the City College site will initially be available by invitation only and will follow the prioritization criteria required by the State. Once vaccine supply increases, the site will scale up, and anyone who lives or works in San Francisco and who is eligible for vaccination will be able to access the vaccine at this site regardless of their health coverage status or provider. While vaccine supply remains the limiting factor in the short-term, the site will have the capacity to vaccinate more than 3,000 people per day once fully operational.  

“The opening of the City College site is an important milestone in our mass vaccination effort, which will, in time, bring this terrible pandemic to an end,” said Dr. Grant Colfax, Director, San Francisco Department of Public Health. “While vaccine supply coming to San Francisco remains extremely limited, this site, and the other high volume vaccination sites that will be opening in the coming weeks will provide the physical space, medical personnel, and logistical processes to efficiently deliver the vaccine when it becomes available.”  

There are more than 210,000 people in San Francisco who are eligible for a COVID-19 vaccine in the first phase (Phase 1A) and people 65 and older. Each person must receive two doses; therefore, San Francisco health care providers need at least 420,000 doses to complete Phase 1A and vaccinate people 65 and older. However, as of January 20, the Department of Public Health and private health care providers have received only a quarter of those doses. 

“As with all of our COVID response efforts over the past year, quickly establishing the City College high volume vaccination site has been an exercise in collaboration, urgency, and science-driven decision making. It has taken significant coordination between different City agencies and City College of San Francisco, as well as our partners at UCSF. I’m proud of the role that the COVID Command Center played in leading this coordination and we will continue to ensure that all available resources are deployed to our shared goal of quickly and equitably distributing the vaccine,” said Mary Ellen Carroll, Executive Director of the Department of Emergency Management.

“With the launch of this mass vaccination program, Mayor Breed and the San Francisco Department of Public Health are providing the critical leadership that has made the City a model for managing the pandemic,” said UCSF Chancellor Sam Hawgood. “As our community waits for vaccine supplies to become more widely available, UCSF is prepared to support San Francisco in vaccinating the City’s residents, focusing first on those who are most vulnerable to this disease.”

“City College is honored to have been chosen as a partner for the mass distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine,” said Rajen Vurdien, Interim Chancellor of City College of San Francisco. “This pandemic has wreaked havoc in our communities, so we are ready to collaboratively contribute to keeping our communities healthy by providing the City of San Francisco access to our Ocean Campus.”

Earlier this week, Mayor Breed announced the launch of a webpage for people who live and work in San Francisco to enter their information and be notified once they are eligible to be vaccinated. People who live and work in San Francisco can sign-up for vaccine notification at sf.gov/vaccinenotify.

###