CC 2020-04-14_07 Public CommentFrom:Kelly Wetmore
To:public comment
Subject:Item 7 We Are the Care Public Comment - April 14 2020
Date:Thursday, April 09, 2020 9:46:07 AM
On Apr 3, 2020, at 11:30 AM, Wendy Wendt < wrote:
Dear City Council Members,
For the last several months representatives from the We Are the Care Initiative have
come to numerous city council meetings to give public comment to the council on the
work being done in SLO County to address the Child Care Crisis. As we will not be
attending meetings this month, we would like to share our April comment with you.
Now more than ever the importance and challenge of providing accessible and
affordable child care is before us. Please consider taking 3 minutes to read our
statement, listed below and attached.
Sincerely,
Wendy Wendt and Kris Roudebush
First 5 San Luis Obispo County
Wendy L Wendt, Executive Director
Kris Roudebush, Special Projects Administrator
First 5 San Luis Obispo County
3220 S. Higuera Street #232
San Luis Obispo, CA 93401
805-781- 4058
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How are the Children?
-Masai Greeting
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Hello from the We Are the Care Initiative,
We are a group of early childhood professionals, people from the business
community, government employees and officials, and families who are partnering
to address our local childcare crisis. Now more than ever, we are reminded that
access to quality and affordable care is vital for our community to function and
support our economy. We can clearly see that child care professionals are now,
and always have been, a crucial part of our workforce.
We are currently living in trying times as the COVID-19 pandemic
impacts nearly every aspect of our daily lives. Our essential workers now find
themselves in a situation that many in our community experience on a regular
basis: needing to work, but also needing quality care for their children. There has
been a call from our local Public Health Director for child care centers and
providers to stay open, to continue to offer care, and to be there for our essential
workers during this time of need. This places child care professionals at a much
greater risk, while also asking them to adhere to strict health and safety
requirements, all while still continuing to provide quality care for children.
A majority of family child care homes and child care centers are small
businesses, and they are suffering. A small, but immense need for care by the
essential workers is not outweighed by the fractional attendance many child care
sites are seeing day-to-day. This reduction in numbers is due to a large group of
families that now find themselves out of work, or working from home, due to the
outbreak, and they are keeping their children home, as well. This means a minute
amount of income, less hours for the already underpaid staff to work, and less
chance that these centers will financially survive. The ultimate irony of this
situation is that the entire system of private child care could be decimated, all
while being called to be on the front-lines in combating this outbreak. We must
find a way to value child care, to value our child care workforce, and to support
these small businesses through this time of monumental hardship.
The San Luis Obispo Child Care Planning Council is working to connect
child care providers with essential workers in need of child care. When you visit
http://www.sanluischildcare.org, you will find two links: one for families who are
seeking care, and one for providers who are offering care. Our hope is that these
efforts will help support child care and the families who are in desperate need.
Please help us to share this information!
April is Month of the Child and Child Abuse Prevention Month, and no
time is more appropriate to celebrate and recognize the children in our world.
These children are growing and developing in a time of vast uncertainty and
unease among the adults around them. We must ensure that their experiences now
will help them become resilient and strong adults, and that the wonder and magic
of childhood is not lost. It is our job to support the children and families of SLO
County in a time of need, and now more than ever, they need our help.
Be on the lookout for more information about our Child Care Awareness
Day on Thursday, April 30th, as well! While we desperately need more quality
care options in our community, we also celebrate the amazing providers that
already support children and families here in San Luis Obispo County! If you
want to learn more about the We Are the Care Initiative or would like to get
involved, please contact First 5 San Luis Obispo County or find more information
on their website, www.first5slo.org/we-are-the-care.php
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<April 2020 WATC_Public Comment.pdf>
From:
To:public comment; Caren Ray Russom
Subject:ELA Foods
Date:Tuesday, April 14, 2020 4:42:58 PM
I just received a notification of supplemental information on the meeting this evening. I
now see that there is a closed meeting between Mr Bergman and ELA Foods to
negotiate the sale of the property at Faeh Ave and El Camino Real.
First off, I don't appreciate the fact that it just slipped onto the agenda at 3:30 in the
afternoon. I looked at the original agenda dated April 10th and there was no mention
of a closed session regarding this matter.
Second, the property has been tied up with ELA Foods for at least 2 years now and I feel this
needs to be resolved and the neighbors deserve to know when there is going to be a meeting
about our neighborhood and not have it dropped on the agenda last minute.
This is very important to a lot of people.
Thank you,
Teri Tardiff
Sent from my Verizon, Samsung Galaxy smartphone