Town Hall Report-Back

Thank you everyone who came to our very successful and very exciting Town Hall event on Monday. More than 300 people came, we had a dynamic group of speakers, and the urgency of our campaign became very clear to everyone in the room.

This Saturday, March 7, at 10 a.m. SEIU 1021 will conduct outreach to Bayview residents about the neighborhood’s budget cuts and inviting them to get involved! The Coalition to Save Public Health has endorsed this effort, and many of our members from other organizations will attend as well.

10 AM, Meet at 17th and Kansas

 

Bay Guardian: “No Service Area”

Today’s Guardian runs an article on the probable human toll of the budget cuts—especially as affects the homeless population of the city and public health issues more broadly. Check it out!

 

Coalition to Save Public Health in the Bay Guardian: “It’s a Rainy Day – Today”

Today’s Bay Guadian ran a piece by Coalition to Save Public Health member Stephany Ashley on proposed changes to the Rainy Day Fund. As well as sitting on the Steering Committee of the Coalition, Stephany is St. James Infirmary’s Harm Reduction Coordinator, and sits on the Executive Board of the Milk Club. Check her piece out!

 

COMMUNITY BUDGET TOWNHALL: Monday, March 2nd: 6 PM

Dear Friends,

Our efforts to defend and save the city’s most vital services has had a great effect.  Despite the media’s coverage which wants us to look like we’re failing at our every attempt, we have put the Mayor on the defensive, and forced the business community to the table to negotiate the Coalition To Save Public Health’s agenda of raising revenues and fighting the decimation of our safety net structure.  It appears that thousands of service cuts, and thousands of lay-offs is scary to the business community too, if not to all elected officials.

Our major question to our Mayor has been:

“Mr. Mayor, we are in a terrible economic crisis,

What’s your plan to save the city’s most vital services?”

To which he answers massive cuts to the social safety net, de-skilling of our public health system, and privatization of our parks.  This looks more like a fiscal conservative’s dream, than a plan to keep San Francisco (and San Franciscans) afloat during a fiscal crisis.

Board of Supervisor President David Chiu has brought together business communities and the labor council to negotiate their support for our summer special election.  Having the business community and SF Labor Council on board could help us reach 100% of the Board of Supervisors, and therefore get our revenue measures to pass by “50% plus 1″ instead of by a 2/3 vote.  This is huge, and due primarily to our persistent efforts!

(For more on our strategy to win through this very difficult budget crisis… stay tuned for our strategy update next week.)

Our task now is a gigantic public education effort about the fiscal crisis and the Mayor’s plan, and to increase our capacity:

Please spread far and wide the attached invitation to our Town Hall!

Community Budget Town Hall

Monday, March 2 at 6 PM

First Unitarian Universalist Society “Church”

1187 Franklin at Geary Street

Open to the Public!

State of the City: Budget Crisis, and Human-Focused Solutions

Special Guests:

John Avalos, Chair of the Budget and Finance Committee,

and our ally Supervisors

Mitch Katz, Director of Department of Public Health

Trent Rohr, Director of Human Services Agency

More TBA

Please spread the word throughout the city.  We need to fill this hall–standing room only!

For more information, please come to our planning meeting on Monday, February 23rd at 5:30 PM at 17th and Kansas, or call Alysabeth: 414-759-3977.

Please Spread the Word!

Your Friends at the Coalition to Save Public Health~

Coalition on Homelessness, Gray Panthers, SEIU 1021, OPEIU Local 3, Coalition on Homelessness, St. James Infirmary, St. Anthony’s Foundation, La Voz Latina, Central City SRO Collaborative, Conard House 1021 Chapter, Progress Foundation 1021 Chapter, Tenderloin Housing Clinic 1021 Chapter, Hyde Street Community Clinic, SRO Families United!, ACORN, API Wellness Center, Conard House, HWWA, Planning for Elders, Community Housing Partnership 1021 Chapter, Stop AIDS project, Senior Action Network, Harvey Milk Democratic Club, Queer Youth Organizing Project, Positive Directions Equals Change, members of the SF Unified School District, and more!

 

City Budget Breakdown: February 20, 2 p.m.

Join the Coalition on Homelessness, Coleman Advocates for Children and Youth, and St. Anthony Foundation for a breakdown of what’s actually going on with the City budget this coming Friday, February 20, at 2 p.m. The discussion will take place at the Coalition on Homelessness’ office at 468 Turk Street, between Hyde and Larkin. The breakdown will be focused on homeless people and SRO residents, and topics will include: What all’s getting cut? How does the process work? and What can any of us do about it?

The presentation will include Spanish translation.

Flyer (English: 92kb PDF)

 

Report-back from Demo at Newsom Campaign stop in San Jose

Tonight a dozen members of the SF Coalition to Save Public Health went to San Jose to inform CA voters that Gavin Newsom is not as concerned about public health as his campaign claims he is. It was difficult to have this complex conversation with people who are not familiar with the situation in San Francisco. Despite the challenge, the Coalition is confident that these efforts are effective.

Most people were very responsive to our message. Some people had negative reactions to our demonstration.  A man walked past us and said “You people are sick!” Well, yes, some of us are and we depend on vital health services in San Francisco that Gavin Newsom is cutting while maintaining other programs like his PR team and subsidies to the Orchestra and Opera. Where are his priorities?

Comments from participants in the demonstration:

“I think it was really important that we got to talk to our fellow Californians about what the Newsom Administration has meant for San Francisco during a time of crisis. I’m glad that we took this opportunity to speak to them.”

“It’s definitely important for us to keep following Newsom on his campaign trail through California because his supporters are largely motivated by the idea that he supports health and human services. So for us as healthcare providers to be here debunking this myth is valuable.”

“The best part was knowing that we got under Gavin’s skin. You could just see it. The most fun part is knowing how irritated he’s gonna be when he sees us showing up time after time, that he can’t get away with the lies and the dismissals.”

“We planted the seeds tonight. We’re working the crowd in the sense that we’re not pushing, we got more attention by being peaceful and having a clear message that people understand.”

“We were a small and respectful group of citizens that reminded the Mayor that Healthy San Francisco is more important than PR stunts. We are always extending an invitation to the Mayor to sit down with us, but if he continues to ignore the voices of ordinary San Franciscans we will not hesitate to escalate our efforts.”

“We have to be creative and we have to mold our strategies for each community.”

“I think I’m gonna start thinking more about the ‘blight of capital’.”

“This is the beginning of the end for Newsom, he will never be Governor.”

Please join us tomorrow at the Budget Committee meeting.

 

ALERT: Board of Supervisors Budget Committee Meeting

Wednesday, February 11

10:00 AM

City Hall Legislative Chambers

Come voice your support for a special election in June to let the voters decide on revenue measures to help mitigate some of the harm caused by the city’s budget crisis.

Budget Committee Agenda

For more info contact: Stephany Ashley 415-572-8465

 

Get on the Bus!

Dear Friends,

Please come to the Next Coalition to Save Public Health Rally… in San Jose!
Get on the Bus!

 

Action Alert: January 27 Board Hearing

Tuesday, January 27^th: MOST IMPORTANT DAY OF THIS CAMPAIGN WE NEED MAJOR TURNOUT

January 27^th, the votes on this day will make or break our chances of stopping the cuts to public healthcare and vital services. Jan. 27^th will see the FINAL VOTE for the Negative Supplemental and for calling Special Election in June. We need 8 votes at least, 11 is our goal!

Schedule of the Day:

1 PM: Rally and Meet on the Steps of City Hall, we will have snacks and t-shirts for everyone

2 PM: Hearing starts: This is the ONLY hearing that will be before the new board of Supervisors about the effects of the cuts. EVERYONE MUST COME! Following the hearing will be the ONLY vote for the Negative Supplemental and calling for a Special Election in June to let voters decide to raise revenues.

TOOLS FOR ORGANIZING

1. Petitions (see attached), if you have cards please continue to circulate and collect these.
2. Call-Ins to Supervisors: Use attached flyer to educate constituents and encourage phone calls/emails to Supervisors asking to pass the Neg. Supplemental and June Special Election… Host Call-Ins at your work-site or at then end of your meetings to make sure this happens!
3. Sign people up to come the 27^th and then follow-up with them to make sure they remember!
4. Decide with your co-workers, friends, comrads the best way to do outreach and turn-out people on the 27^th.

Jan 27 Flyer
Petition to the Board of Supervisors

 

The decimation of public health

This month, the Board of Supervisors has the opportunity to protect the health and, in some cases, the lives of thousands

BY ALYSABETH ALEXANDER, JENNIFER FRIEDENBACH, AND ED KINCHLEY

OPINION Crisis seems omnipresent these days.: it’s hard to find a newspaper that doesn’t carry the word in a headline at the top of the business section, or even on page 1. But a liquidity crisis seems a lot less solid when compared to the kind of crises faced by people in a society without health services.

San Francisco has developed a strong mental-health infrastructure, with respect for mental health consumers’ viewpoints and rights.

As an alternative to confinement — a coercive practice that can alienate patients — this city has acute diversion units: houses that serve as recovery centers for people in psychiatric crises. Psychiatrists manage medication, and nurse practitioners conduct health screenings, as you’d expect, but this is just the beginning of a broader approach to mental health. Residents work with professionals to develop their own treatment plans. They meet for discussion groups and trainings on topics that affect their ongoing mental health, like relapse prevention, symptom management, and medication education.

Participants help cook and clean to prepare themselves for independent living. Every year, 1,400 San Franciscans use these units.

We also have created culturally competent services. In immigrant neighborhoods and at San Francisco General Hospital, we have services in Spanish and Asian and Pacific Islander languages — services that help prevent the problems that can occur when native-language support is unavailable.

And the city has embarked on a grand experiment: Healthy San Francisco is designed to provide health care — before things get to crisis level — for any city resident who lacks insurance.

Unfortunately the crises have collided. These programs, along with dozens of others, are slated for closure next month as part of the city’s emergency rebudgeting response to our economic crisis. Half our acute diversion units will close. Hundreds of monolingual San Franciscans will lose services in Chinatown and the Richmond District, and General Hospital may lose half the Asian languages with which it can communicate with mental health consumers. New Leaf will cut therapy for 50 gay clients with combined mental health and addictive disorders. The sexual assault trauma recovery center will close.

Healthy San Francisco will be gutted. Staffing has not increased sufficiently to provide high quality care for all patients, and SF General will downgrade service by replacing skilled nursing jobs with less-skilled positions. Some RNs will be eliminated, LVNs will be replaced, certified staff will be replaced by noncertified staff, and clerks with medical training will be reduced to clerical work.

These are just examples. Cuts were made so hastily that nobody yet understands their full extent. But budgets — for all those digits and decimals that smack of hard economic truth — exist in the nebulous apparition of What May Be. And what may be, may yet be changed.

This month, the Board of Supervisors has the opportunity to change this future, and to protect the health and, in some cases, the lives of thousands of San Franciscans. Public health will receive cuts: that’s a sad truth of a faltering economy. But these cuts need be neither as numerous nor as deep as the current plan.

By reallocating funding from less essential programs to our most vital services, and by giving San Franciscans the option to vote on new revenue in June, the supervisors can respect the priorities of a city that cares about the well-being of its ill, its injured, and its uninsured.

Alysabeth Alexander works with La Voz Latina. Jennifer Friedenbach works with the Coalition, and SEIU Local 1021 activist Ed Kinchley is a member of the Coalition to Save Public Health.