October 2020 Edition

Edition 8, October 2020

Welcome to the October 2020 edition of Pacifica Voice.

In this edition follow -> link to articles:

  1. City Council candidate -> campaign contributions summarized by Peter Loeb,
  2. -> PPA endorsed candidates: Mayra Espinosa and Marj Davis,
  3. Thoughts on Facing the -> Whirlwind of 2020 by Rev. Kathy Crary,
  4. An overview of -> Pacifica’s unhoused, past and present, by Suzanne Moore
  5. An invitation to the -> Sanchez Art Center for their 50/50 show from Cindy Abbott,
  6. Social Unity Project -> event to honor black women whose deaths have impacted the world
  7. An update on the -> Pacific Beach Coalition by Lynn Adams.
  8. Celebration of a -> Peace Pole at St. Andrew sent from Linda Peebles
  9. Remembering -> Monica Olsen by Sister Laetitia Bordes.

 

Month Events:

  • SAT 10/10 4:00 PM Social Unity Project Rockaway Beach
  • MON 10/12 7:00 PM City Council
  • TH 10/22 7:00 PM PPA General meeting
  • MON 10/26 PM City Council
  • Sanchez Art Gallery by appt Thu-Sun: also check the virtual tours.

Photos have been contributed by Leo Leon and Mark Hubbell

Pacifica Voice is eager to receive articles on issues important to our community. Please send them to editors@pacificavoice.us for consideration.

New! – To receive press releases and periodic messages from the Pacifica Voice please add your name and email address to our subscriber list – SUBSCRIBE HERE

ELECTION NEWS

Campaign finance reports for Pacifica City Council candidates
 Author Peter Loeb

The Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC), as part of the Political Reform Act, requires that all candidates in elections in California file campaign finance reports. These reports are posted on the city’s web site and can be accessed here: https://www.cityofpacifica.org/government/clerk/election/2020_candidate_and_committee_filings.asp

Report of contributions on Form 460, due Sept. 24, 2020

Candidates for District 1, Pacifica City Council

  • Sue Vaterlaus: $3500, including $3000 from the California Association of Realtors and $500 from the California Apartment Association
  • Mayra Espinosa: $2655

 

Candidates for District 4, Pacifica City Council

  • Marj Davis: $7194
  • Tygarjas Twyrls Bigstyck: $3267
  • Michael Cohen: Form 460 not filed, Form 470 filed instead.

Form 470 says “I declare under penalty of perjury that to the best of my knowledge I anticipate that I will receive less than $2,000 and that I will spend less than $2,000 during the calendar year and that I have used all reasonable diligence in preparing this statement.”

Cohen filed Form 470 supplement on 9-29-20. This form is required if a candidate’s contributions or expenditures total more than $2000. The candidate is also required to submit a Form 460. As of this date, no Form 460 is on the city’s web site.

The next date to file campaign finance reports is October 22.

Pacifica Progressive Alliance Endorsements – Candidate Mailer

Mayra Espinosa – Pacifica City Council District 1

Marj Davis – Pacifica City Council District 4

Facing the Whirlwind Events of 2020
 Author Rev Kathy Crary

My late mother-in-law said there were two projects a couple must undertake to try the relationship prior to marriage: They were 1. Go camping. 2. Hang wallpaper. Margery was hanging wallpaper two days before one of her three children was born. She thought the exercise would help induce labor and the subsequent birth.

My good friend Denise said one thing to add to the list is constructing Ikea furniture. Of course, we laugh at such musings, but there is an element to truth to them. There are several aspects of each project that would help all of us when we face the whirlwind events of 2020.

Let me elaborate. In all three activities one needs the proper gear, equipment, tools. Without these tools the project is doomed to the half-finished, half-done, sloppy outcomes. Why go to the wilderness for time away, refreshment and the unhooking from the inhabited world when you keep going “to town” to get what you did not pack for the journey? Why hang wallpaper without the proper adhesives, preparations of the wall to be covered, the paste and tray, the rollers to take out bubbles? With that plan for wallpapering, I hope perfection was not your goal. For the furniture, it takes the proper screwdriver (usually + and – heads), maybe a hammer (not your shoe) and a careful reading of the INSTRUCTIONS.

You need collaboration in these activities and a division of labor that maximizes the talents of the participants in the project. This cuts down on frustration and gives the project some possibility of satisfactory completion. Someone puts up the tent, someone reads the instructions, someone measures the wall and wallpaper, someone cooks, someone matches the paper going on the wall, someone does the construction.

With all that faces our neighborhoods, our communities, our state and nation, I believe these ideas would help us get on with the work of democracy. Leadership when needed (you can hide behind collaboration and never DO anything): collaboration with people who have the gifts and skills to get it done, the humility of all participants at a level that truth can be told and correction of skills may contribute to the cause, a surrendering of ego-based insistence that only one of us could possibly know the way to do things.

By the way, exhibit leadership: VOTE.

UNHOUSED IN PACIFICA: A REVIEW
 Author Suzanne Moore

We love Pacifica, its natural beauty, its local neighborhoods, its sense of community. For those of us who call it home, we are proud and grateful to live here.

Pacifica, like all of the Bay Area, has seen an increase in the cost of housing. In 2012-2015, housing costs increased over 50% while wages stagnated at an annual increase of 2.5%. Housing costs remains the single greatest reason for displacement, and Pacifica has seen 1/3 of residents relocate since 2010.

In a 2019 County survey, housing costs are also the most common reason for losing a home and becoming unhoused.This article reviews efforts for Pacifica’s unhoused and suggests solutions and next steps.

HISTORY

Pacifica Resource Center is a San Mateo County CORE Agency and nonprofit providing a safety net to the County’s most vulnerable. The PRC has over a 40 year history, and their mission is “support the economic security of Pacifica families and individuals by providing a safety net of food, housing assistance, and other critical services, including coaching, advocacy, information, and referral”.

In August of 2016, the PRC and other Coastside stakeholders drafted the “San Mateo County Coastside Congregational Rotational Shelter Feasibility Study”. The study recognized that there is no homeless shelter on the Coast, that homeless numbers were climbing, that a brick-and-mortar shelter would be expensive to build and maintain, and that a Rotational Shelter Model could serve community needs. St. Peter’s Church in Pacifica had a trial overnight at that time, and the congregation still recalls that evening as special and successful. However, the feasibility study failed to generate public interest or support.

In 2017, San Mateo County boldly effected changes. San Mateo County’s Homeless Redesign is a commitment to provide “housing first, expand rapid rehousing, and maximize permanent supportive

housing”. A coordinated reentry program began for families in June 2017 and for singles in December 2017.

Pacifica Resource Center Case Managers are a portal to the County’s Diversion/Coordinated Entry system. PRC’s role is to screen, document residency, act as a point of entry, provide core services (food pantry, shower program, homeless supplies, and other critical services), and support transition to permanent housing. The PRC has been successful in finding homes for the unhoused.

In 2018, the Resource Center began to see a shift in homeless numbers: while street and tent homeless were decreasing, motor home numbers were increasing. Pacifica City and Council, in the city’s 2019 goal setting, requested a Pacifica Task Force to study homelessness. Volunteers of the Unhoused in Pacifica Task Force met for the first time in August 2019.

Within 3 months, the Task Force held a well-attended Community Forum. Findings from the forum were incorporated into a report and presented to City Council 12/9/19. The report summarized models of programs for the homeless and made recommendations based on community feedback. Findings of the report included:

  • recognition that many motorhome homeless have strong ties to Pacifica,
  • there are demonstrated safe parking programs which create a pathway to housing for the homeless,
  • there are ways to reduce illegal waste dumping that can provide near immediate reduction of illegal waste,
  • the PRC already has many homeless support tools such as aggressive efforts for grants/funding, case management, and homeless outreach,
  • Pacifica Police have a well-established relationship with the Resource Center,
  • the community has voiced support for a program that leads to stable housing for Pacifica’s homeless.

The report was shelved until July of 2020.

At direction from the City Manager, the Task Force collaborated on a pilot fundamentally created by Anita Rees, Director of the PRC, and Pacifica faith-based leaders, Jonathan Markham from Pacifica’s New Life Church and Brian Camara from St. Andrew’s Presbyterian. This pilot took into account that the City declined to fund or set aside property for centralized safe parking. The Parking Permit Pilot proposed 20 spaces – 10 on city streets designated by Public Works as safe for motor home parking, and 10 to be supplied by churches. The program proposal would vet participants, supply access to waste management and hygiene services, provide life staples, and provide case management toward permanent housing. City Council chose against moving the pilot forward on 7/15/20.

COVID-19 has had grave impact on services for the unhoused:

  • COVID makes the original model of a church-based overnight shelter unviable due to risk of viral spread,
  • our unhoused are at greater risk of being exposed to and becoming seriously ill with COVID,
  • access to hygiene is reduced by closures of gyms, restaurants, public facilities during phases of the crisis.

A 2nd COVID wave is expected with the flu season. The economic downturn related to COVID could see a dramatic increase in homelessness. Renters who have lost their jobs and have no replacement income are at high risk for eviction and subsequent homelessness. The Bay Area Equity Atlas reports that 6900 renter households including 4100 children are at imminent risk of eviction if protection is not provided.

COMMUNITY MEETING 9/30/20

In a 9/30/20 Community Meeting on Pacifica’s Unhoused, experts spoke of current resources and programs.

  • Anita Rees, Executive Director of Pacifica Resource Center, shared success stories and identified new outreach workers. If the public sees an unhoused individual in need, they can contact Daniel Gardner at UCOutreach@pacresourcecenter.org or call 650 575 4861.
  • Laura Bent from Samaritan House described the County’s Coordinated Entry System which directs the unhoused toward permanent housing.
  • Pastor Paul Bains of Project WeHope discussed their vehicular Safe Parking Program, the first in the nation. Pastor Bains busted myths: very few unhoused are drug users, and very few dumped illegal biohazard waste. In the first 3 months of their program, their safe parking program successfully housed 34 and currently shelter 12.

All speakers reported there is more to be done. A video interview of 3 Pacificans who lost housing said it best: a program that is a pathway to housing for our unhoused would bring hope and change lives.

VIEW (YouTube) 9/30 MEETING ON PACIFIC COAST TV…

NEXT STEPS

Three ingredients are needed for solutions: money, land, community will. Pacifica actually has key components: land (city, county, state), money ( likely county, state and private foundations), and providers (the PRC) who have demonstrated expertise. All that is needed is political will and the community backing.

San Mateo County has made it clear that financial support for a homeless program is dependent on the City’s commitment. The current Council majority declines to move forward on programs stating the public is unwilling to support one. We need to make our support loud and clear.

Pacifica can, in this pandemic, choose to help our unhoused – here where they work, where they have family and established support like healthcare and churches, and where they have a sense of community and belonging. Martin Luther King said, “Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.” Speak up and ask our electeds to provide real solutions for our unhoused. It is time to voice support of our neighbors in need.

Sanchez Art Center’s 2020 50|50 Show
 Author Cindy Abbott
Executive Director Sanchez Art Center

In Person By Appointment AND Online in the Virtual Galleries

Everyone has experienced disruption in their lives as a result of the pandemic. The arts though have been significantly impacted by the abrupt closure of galleries and other venues where artists show their work. It was of paramount importance to continue with this year’s 50|50 Show to provide an outlet for the artists and a place of reflection for the community.

The arts bring us together with the creation of works that document and share our collective experiences of sadness and hope, thought-provoking pieces and those of beauty and inspiration. We hope that all will enjoy the show either in person in the galleries at Sanchez Art Center or online via our virtual galleries.

50 California Artists were selected by juror Patricia Sweetow of Patricia Sweetow Gallery, San Francisco. Each put their hearts and soul into a summer long journey creating 50 small (6″ x 6″) works over 50 days. Sanchez Art Center is delighted to bring you their works that can be viewed in person and in our Virtual Galleries.

Health and safety protocols follow those required by San Mateo County including visits by appointment to limit the number of art viewers in the galleries at a time and provide for ample physical distancing, doors are left open for airflow, hand sanitizer is available in touchless pumps, and face masks are required by all. If you book an appointment but then don’t well, please feel better, cancel the appointment and rebook.

The 50|50 Show will be in the galleries through Sunday, October 11. To view in person, click HERE to make an appointment, Thurs – Sun. Appointments begin at 1pm. To view in the virtual galleries, that will remain up through October, click HERE.

Sanchez Article photos by Mark Hubbell

Movement Meditation Art Healing and Light
 Social Unity Project Event Announcement

Pacific Beach Coalition

Painted Bucket to End tobacco litter

PBC thanks all who entered the Paint a Bucket Contest and joined the Bucket Art Walk at Sharp Park. It was a wonderfully, heartening event with really amazing buckets. Congratulations to all, especially the winners.

SEE THE BUCKETS HERE…

Street to Beach

Thank you to our growing team of earth heroes picking up litter on their walks, in their neighborhoods and of course on the beaches. Nearly 350 families have signed up to be a champion for the ocean. Over 10K pounds of litter have been intercepted including 103K toxic Cigarette filters

Whale Talk

450 people from around the world tuned in for our Whale Talk with Ted Cheeseman.

100% of your contribution will go toward our education or field program.

SEE THE TALK HERE…

Contact: info@pacificbeachcoalition.org
Website: www.pacificbeachcoalition.org

 

PACIFICA PEACE PEOPLE “PLANT” ANOTHER PEACE POLE IN PACIFICA
 Author Linda Peebles

In our continuing work to create a culture of peace in our community, Pacifica Peace People are “planting” peace poles throughout our home town. Embodying the hopes and dreams of the entire human family, these poles say, “May Peace Prevail on Earth” in 4 different languages.

Our most recent peace pole “planting” was on September 20th at St. Andrew Presbyterian Church on Terra Nova Blvd. Pastor Brian Camera made wonderful remarks about peace, and PPP’s International Peace Day resolutions were read aloud to the small gathering of the congregation and PPP members. Flowers adorned the base of the pole, and “Give peace a Chance” was sung by the group. It was a joyful dedication.

Over 250,000 peace poles stand worldwide in silent vigil for peace on earth. Perhaps YOU would like a peace pole in front of your home! We would love to see peace poles all over Pacifica.

Our peace poles are from May Peace Prevail International who promote peace around the world. You can read more about their goals and activities and see the peace poles they offer at www.worldpeace.org.

You can also contribute to our fund to enable PPP to purchase more poles for schools, churches, libraries, or other public places. We would love to dedicate more peace poles any time, especially around Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday.

For more information or to contribute to poles, please contact: deliaforpeace39@gmail.com.

We believe these beautiful iconic symbols will remind us to think, speak and act in the spirit of peace and harmony. Pacifica means peace!

Sunflowers – Remembering Monica Olsen
 Author Laetitia Bordes, SH

There are beautiful sunflowers thriving in what was my barren garden.

Amidst the smoke and soot from the fires they stand tall, smiling and thriving, bringing to mind a strong and valiant woman who was a spreader of joy.

My memories of Monica date back to the 80s when political refugees from the wars in Central America were arriving in the Bay Area. At that time, I was working with the Central America Refugee Organizing Project and Monica was one of our solid supporters. I remember her welcoming smile, her willingness to be of help, and her perseverance in the cause of social justice.

At her Celebration of Life at St. Peter’s church last year, we were given a packet of sunflower seeds. Two months ago, when I was feeling quite sullen in the midst of COVID and the raging fires, I planted them, my first attempt at gardening.

Now the blooming flowers have brought me joy and hope, Monica’s gift. When I look out the window at the sunflowers, I am reminded of Monica’s resurrection.

 

“Pacifica Strong” image by Mark Hubbelll