The County’s number one priority is the health and safety of its residents. Combatting COVID, making sure everyone in our community has access to testing, vaccination, and resources is the primary focus. While the SFD renaming discussion is taking up some community conversation bandwidth, it has not diverted time, resources, or attention from the pandemic response or any of the other critical government functions, programs, or projects. That said, it does have a direct correlation to the County’s COVID challenge and the equity work that is also a county priority.
The Pandemic has had disproportionate impact on poor people, which here in Marin, as across the nation are most often people of color. COVID has brought to the forefront of our county and country’s national discourse historic and persistent inequity in our county and country, and the systemic racism that is the foundation for that inequity.
The renaming discussion is an opportunity to learn more about this place we live, the people who have lived here, to connect the past with the present, to think about community values in the context of the times we live. And then, to use the discussion and learning to inform action we take as individuals and as a community towards truly making Marin County an inclusive, equitable, welcoming place for all.