latimes--2020-12-31--Questions linger over Newsom's friendship with lobbyist who threw French Laundry party

On the website of one of Sacramento ’ s most influential lobbying firms , partner Jason Kinney boasted of his close connection to Gavin Newsom , noting he has advised the governor for “ nearly 14 years.
” The plug suddenly disappeared last month , days after Newsom drew national criticism for attending Kinney ’ s 50th birthday dinner at the famed Napa Valley restaurant the French Laundry .
The event turned into a political disaster for Newsom , drawing charges of hypocrisy at the very time the governor urged residents to avoid gatherings and stay home as much as @ @ @ @ @ @ @ coronavirus .
But the episode also exposed something that has long been the subject of quiet discussion in Sacramento : Newsom ’ s decision to maintain a tight relationship with Kinney , who is director of a lobbying firm with business before the governor .
Kinney is well known around the state Capitol as a strategist , ghostwriter of Newsom ’ s speeches and unofficial fixer summoned to help loosen the governor from political jams .
His dual roles as an advisor to Newsom and a lobbyist paid by companies to influence the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ about potential conflicts of interest for the administration .
“ I think it certainly can cause the public to question whether any advice the governor is getting is in the public interest or in the interest of the companies that have paid Kinney ’ s firm to lobby , ” said Emily Rusch , executive director of the California Public Interest Research Group , an independent consumer advocacy organization .
“ It ’ s common sense to question that.
” Kinney ’ s firm , Axiom Advisors , has lobbied on behalf of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Newsom ’ s office , including Netflix and unsecured creditors of Pacific Gas & Electric , records reviewed by The Times show .
According to the firm , Kinney has built a firewall between his work for Newsom and Axiom ’ s clients , makes money only on work for his individual clients and does not profit from the firm ’ s overall earnings .
California law doesn ’ t expressly prohibit lobbying the administration while also advising the governor , and some of Newsom ’ s predecessors sought the input of Sacramento @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and professional alliance with Newsom has given him and his firm a unique position of power .
In its list of the top players in state government and politics , Capitol Weekly described Kinney as “ a sort of majordomo ” for the governor who “ makes strategic policy and political recommendations.
” Axiom Advisors was launched shortly after Newsom ’ s election and has become one of the state ’ s top-grossing lobbying businesses .
The relationship , many in Sacramento say , was bound to draw attention to the ethical boundaries @ @ @ @ @ @ @ spoke with more than two dozen lobbyists , Capitol staff members , legislators and political consultants about the governor ’ s work with Kinney .
Many of them spoke on condition of anonymity , citing concerns that discussing Newsom and his advisor could affect their working relationships with both men .
Newsom and his office declined to answer any questions for this story .
“ The Governor has been successful throughout a twenty year career in public service because he makes decisions in the interest of the public good , ” said Sahar @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in a statement .
“ His decisions are rooted in good public policy , and he ’ s never hesitated to say no to organizations and individuals he has long relationships with when their priorities run counter to the public good.
” Molly Weedn , a spokeswoman for Kinney , said he separates his role as “ an outside communications advisor on political issues ” from his lobbying work .
“ He adheres to strict ethical standards and fully and transparently discloses all lobbying activity , ” Weedn said .
“ He does @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to benefit the firm ’ s clients.
” Axiom reported receiving $ 582,266 from clients in the first three months of Newsom ’ s term — a figure that ballooned to $ 2.3 million by the end of the second quarter .
From Newsom ’ s inauguration in 2019 through the end of September 2020 , Axiom reported a total of $ 10.9 million for lobbying work .
While apologizing during a news conference last month for attending the French Laundry dinner , Newsom described Kinney as a friend he ’ s known @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to Newsom ’ s time as a San Francisco supervisor .
Kinney said he met Newsom in 2002 during a statewide homelessness conference while working as a senior communications advisor and chief speechwriter for former Democratic Gov .
Gray Davis .
He described Newsom as the one the “ most capable , dedicated human beings I ’ ve ever met.
” Newsom “ was literally one of the few elected leaders in the nation with the courage and compassion to talk honestly about California ’ s homelessness crisis , and he was putting @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to help people get off the streets , ” Kinney said in a statement .
Kinney , who advertised himself as a senior strategist for Newsom , helped run the then-lieutenant governor ’ s 2016 campaign to legalize marijuana .
For years , Kinney has worked behind the scenes to strengthen Newsom ’ s relationships with influential leaders and delegates within the California Democratic Party , for which he has consulted during much of the last decade .
But the French Laundry dinner has prompted Kinney to edit his list of clients .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ with the state Democratic Party this month .
The change came shortly before the governor ’ s office released a new ethics policy that prohibits anyone from working as a paid advisor to the party , the governor or his campaigns while also lobbying the administration .
The rule , which was introduced just weeks after the French Laundry dinner , applies to all of the consultants who were on the governor ’ s or the California Democratic Party ’ s payrolls when it was announced on Dec. 11 , Newsom ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ work with the party before that date and was not included on a list the governor ’ s office released of paid consultants who would be affected by the policy .
Like many established political operators in Sacramento , Kinney offers some services and communications strategy advice to the governor for free — a show of goodwill and a form of investment in a candidate — but has previously accepted payment to work on Newsom ’ s initiatives , state filings show .
The lobbying ban does not address Kinney ’ s unpaid @ @ @ @ @ @ @ roster of clients includes dialysis provider DaVita , Marathon Petroleum , Poseidon Water , Acadia Healthcare and several companies in the marijuana business .
Netflix executives hired Kinney ’ s firm this year to lobby for a change in state law that could have made the company eligible for a tax credit potentially worth millions of dollars , according to state filings .
Those familiar with the tax bill said it came from the governor ’ s office — with Kinney ’ s involvement — in the final hours of the legislative session @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that it required a special rule waiver to be considered .
The proposal ultimately failed , but records show that the Silicon Valley streaming giant paid Axiom Advisors $ 52,500 for working on the change to the tax credit from July through September .
Earlier filings show the firm received an additional $ 87,500 for working on “ tax issues ” for Netflix from April through June .
Kinney declined to say whether he discussed the tax credit proposal with Newsom or his staff .
Newsom did not respond to a question about @ @ @ @ @ @ @ from his office and if he or anyone on his staff discussed it with Kinney .
Sources close to the governor say he and Kinney have long been cognizant of the potential for conflicts of interest stemming from their relationship and note that Newsom scrutinizes issues involving any of his political advisors .
Newsom ’ s departing chief of staff , Ann O ’ Leary , also tried to establish boundaries and screen outside advisors for potential conflicts , according to the sources .
After announcing the new lobbying policy this month , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s political watchdog agency for ideas on practices to further limit undue influence .
During Newsom ’ s transition into the governor ’ s office in late 2018 , Kinney ‘ s firm said he recommended candidates for jobs in the administration , an unpaid volunteer role that also has been deleted from his biography on the Axiom Advisors website .
Kinney declined to answer a question about whether he has ever lobbied any of the people he recommended after they landed positions in the administration , or connected them to other members @ @ @ @ @ @ @ before Newsom was sworn in , a spokesman for the governor said he adopted a rule that prevented those who worked on the transition from lobbying transition officials .
Kinney already had deregistered as a lobbyist before working on the transition .
But that ban , the governor ’ s staff said , was short-lived and ended when Newsom officially took office .
Three weeks after Newsom was inaugurated as California ’ s 40th governor — delivering a speech Kinney helped craft — Kinney registered as a lobbyist for his new firm , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to advise the politicians they seek to influence .
Government accountability advocates , including Rusch of CalPIRG , say that even if efforts were made to address lobbyists influencing the elected officials they advise , it would be difficult to establish effective legal boundaries on a tight friendship .
Kinney also has served as an advisor to Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg and was a spokesman and communications strategist for the state Senate ’ s Democratic Caucus and president pro tem ’ s office .
Kevin de León , a former leader of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Los Angeles City Council , said Kinney ’ s work for him and his Democratic colleagues never conflicted with his lobbying clients .
“ He never , in one single instance , lobbied me on behalf of any of his clients , ” De León said .
“ He had the good sense to know you keep a separation of church and state.
” Kinney ’ s activities have drawn the attention of the state ’ s political watchdog agency in the past .
The Fair Political Practices Commission fined Kinney in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a lobbyist and file disclosures about his activities .
An examination of Axiom ’ s clients through filings with the secretary of state shows the firm has been hired by several companies seeking to influence the governor and his administration .
Some of those clients received favorable outcomes on their bills or issues , while others fell flat .
While Newsom grappled with the bankruptcy of PG & E , the largest investor-owned utility in California , Axiom made $ 220,000 to lobby him and the Legislature on behalf of a court-appointed panel @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The firm wrote in court documents that it spent a significant amount of time meeting with lawmakers and the governor ’ s office to discuss a law that established a $ 21-billion fund for PG & E and Newsom ’ s approval of the company ’ s reorganization plan , both described as major milestones in the case .
Its work included efforts to “ understand the governor ’ s views regarding the plan.
” Weedn , Axiom ’ s spokeswoman , said Kinney “ did not lobby on behalf of the unsecured @ @ @ @ @ @ @ not had conversations with any officials about those issues.
” The Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors of PG & E , which represented financial institutions , contractors and electrical workers , paid Axiom $ 20,000 a month to lobby on the bankruptcy case for nearly a year .
Axiom was required to file court documents requesting that a judge approve the payments and detailed more than 500 hours of work .
Kinney reported a small number of hours worked , which included meetings with the Axiom team about the case , and other @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the firm ’ s work , court filings show .
The firm said that Kinney ’ s work did not involve lobbying .
Meanwhile , California environmentalists and government watchdog groups have been sounding the alarm about Axiom ’ s ties to a major oil company with business before the Newsom administration : Aera Energy , a partnership of Shell Oil and ExxonMobil .
Since April , the California Geologic Energy Management Division , known as CalGEM , has issued more than 50 new hydraulic fracturing permits to Aera Energy and Chevron @ @ @ @ @ @ @ lobbying fees in 2019 and 2020 , records at the secretary of state ’ s office show .
The Newsom administration and CalGEM were listed among the agencies that Aera lobbied .
“ Newsom ’ s close personal relationship with Kinney raises serious concerns that corporations that pay big money to Axiom can obtain preferential treatment from the governor , ” said Derek Seidman of the Public Accountability Initiative , a Buffalo , N.Y.-based nonprofit focused on government and corporate accountability .
The oil permits issued to Aera came after a 2019 announcement @ @ @ @ @ @ @ new hydraulic fracturing permits until the projects could be reviewed by an independent panel of scientists at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory .
State Oil and Gas Supervisor Uduak-Joe Ntuk said in August that the permits issued since April underwent that independent environmental review .
In October , Newsom called on the California Legislature to ban hydraulic fracturing , an action he said is not within his executive authority as governor — an opinion disputed by environmentalists .
Less than 10 days after Newsom made that announcement , CalGEM issued six new fracking @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of Aera , Axiom also lobbied legislators on a bill that would have mandated health and safety buffer zones around oil and gas wells and refineries near schools , playgrounds , nursing homes and other sensitive residential areas .
The legislation was strongly opposed by the oil industry and failed to pass in the state Senate .
Weedn said Kinney did not conduct any work or receive any personal compensation from Aera .
With the coronavirus surging , large regions of the state under stay-at-home orders and a budding recall effort to boot @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s French Laundry gaffe couldn ’ t come at a worse time , said Matt Rexroad , a former Yolo County supervisor and Republican political consultant .
“ It ’ s one little problem snowballing and becoming a big deal , ” Rexroad said .
“ Right now he ’ s under the microscope.
” Although Rexroad said Newsom ’ s decision to attend Kinney ’ s dinner raises questions about his leadership during the pandemic , he noted it ’ s not out of the ordinary for governors to have close friends @ @ @ @ @ @ @ moonlight as lobbyists .
“ It ’ s not a problem if the candidate and the consultant are both aware of the motives and it ’ s fully disclosed , ” Rexroad said .
“ The governor is a politician .
He ’ s going to hang out with political people , and Jason Kinney is a political person .
”

California Gov. Gavin Newsom has had a long friendship with Jason Kinney, a lobbyist who also acts as an advisor to the governor.
On the website of one of Sacramento’s most influential lobbying firms, partner Jason Kinney boasted of his close connection to Gavin Newsom, noting he has advised the governor for “nearly 14 years.”
The plug suddenly disappeared last month, days after Newsom drew national criticism for attending Kinney’s 50th birthday dinner at the famed Napa Valley restaurant the French Laundry.
The event turned into a political disaster for Newsom, drawing charges of hypocrisy at the very time the governor urged residents to avoid gatherings and stay home as much as possible amid an unprecedented surge in the coronavirus.
Advertisement
But the episode also exposed something that has long been the subject of quiet discussion in Sacramento: Newsom’s decision to maintain a tight relationship with Kinney, who is director of a lobbying firm with business before the governor.
Kinney is well known around the state Capitol as a strategist, ghostwriter of Newsom’s speeches and unofficial fixer summoned to help loosen the governor from political jams. His dual roles as an advisor to Newsom and a lobbyist paid by companies to influence the governor and his staff have raised questions about potential conflicts of interest for the administration.
“I think it certainly can cause the public to question whether any advice the governor is getting is in the public interest or in the interest of the companies that have paid Kinney’s firm to lobby,” said Emily Rusch, executive director of the California Public Interest Research Group, an independent consumer advocacy organization. “It’s common sense to question that.”
Kinney’s firm, Axiom Advisors, has lobbied on behalf of several companies seeking to sway decision-making in Newsom’s office, including Netflix and unsecured creditors of Pacific Gas & Electric, records reviewed by The Times show. According to the firm, Kinney has built a firewall between his work for Newsom and Axiom’s clients, makes money only on work for his individual clients and does not profit from the firm’s overall earnings.
California law doesn’t expressly prohibit lobbying the administration while also advising the governor, and some of Newsom’s predecessors sought the input of Sacramento lobbyists.
Yet Kinney’s personal and professional alliance with Newsom has given him and his firm a unique position of power. In its list of the top players in state government and politics, Capitol Weekly described Kinney as “a sort of majordomo” for the governor who “makes strategic policy and political recommendations.” Axiom Advisors was launched shortly after Newsom’s election and has become one of the state’s top-grossing lobbying businesses.
The relationship, many in Sacramento say, was bound to draw attention to the ethical boundaries in the Newsom administration.
The Times spoke with more than two dozen lobbyists, Capitol staff members, legislators and political consultants about the governor’s work with Kinney. Many of them spoke on condition of anonymity, citing concerns that discussing Newsom and his advisor could affect their working relationships with both men.
Advertisement
Newsom and his office declined to answer any questions for this story.
“The Governor has been successful throughout a twenty year career in public service because he makes decisions in the interest of the public good,” said Sahar Robertson, a spokeswoman for Newsom, in a statement. “His decisions are rooted in good public policy, and he’s never hesitated to say no to organizations and individuals he has long relationships with when their priorities run counter to the public good.”
Molly Weedn, a spokeswoman for Kinney, said he separates his role as “an outside communications advisor on political issues” from his lobbying work.
“He adheres to strict ethical standards and fully and transparently discloses all lobbying activity,” Weedn said. “He does not use his role as an advisor to benefit the firm’s clients.”
Axiom reported receiving $582,266 from clients in the first three months of Newsom’s term — a figure that ballooned to $2.3 million by the end of the second quarter. From Newsom’s inauguration in 2019 through the end of September 2020, Axiom reported a total of $10.9 million for lobbying work.
While apologizing during a news conference last month for attending the French Laundry dinner, Newsom described Kinney as a friend he’s known nearly two decades.
The relationship dates to Newsom’s time as a San Francisco supervisor. Kinney said he met Newsom in 2002 during a statewide homelessness conference while working as a senior communications advisor and chief speechwriter for former Democratic Gov. Gray Davis. He described Newsom as the one the “most capable, dedicated human beings I’ve ever met.”
Newsom “was literally one of the few elected leaders in the nation with the courage and compassion to talk honestly about California’s homelessness crisis, and he was putting smart, local solutions on the table to help people get off the streets,” Kinney said in a statement.
Kinney, who advertised himself as a senior strategist for Newsom, helped run the then-lieutenant governor’s 2016 campaign to legalize marijuana. For years, Kinney has worked behind the scenes to strengthen Newsom’s relationships with influential leaders and delegates within the California Democratic Party, for which he has consulted during much of the last decade.
But the French Laundry dinner has prompted Kinney to edit his list of clients.
His firm said he ended his work with the state Democratic Party this month. The change came shortly before the governor’s office released a new ethics policy that prohibits anyone from working as a paid advisor to the party, the governor or his campaigns while also lobbying the administration.
The rule, which was introduced just weeks after the French Laundry dinner, applies to all of the consultants who were on the governor’s or the California Democratic Party’s payrolls when it was announced on Dec. 11, Newsom’s office said. Kinney had ended his work with the party before that date and was not included on a list the governor’s office released of paid consultants who would be affected by the policy.
Like many established political operators in Sacramento, Kinney offers some services and communications strategy advice to the governor for free — a show of goodwill and a form of investment in a candidate — but has previously accepted payment to work on Newsom’s initiatives, state filings show. The lobbying ban does not address Kinney’s unpaid work for Newsom.
Axiom’s roster of clients includes dialysis provider DaVita, Marathon Petroleum, Poseidon Water, Acadia Healthcare and several companies in the marijuana business.
Netflix executives hired Kinney’s firm this year to lobby for a change in state law that could have made the company eligible for a tax credit potentially worth millions of dollars, according to state filings.
Those familiar with the tax bill said it came from the governor’s office — with Kinney’s involvement — in the final hours of the legislative session. The proposal was introduced so late that it required a special rule waiver to be considered.
The proposal ultimately failed, but records show that the Silicon Valley streaming giant paid Axiom Advisors $52,500 for working on the change to the tax credit from July through September. Earlier filings show the firm received an additional $87,500 for working on “tax issues” for Netflix from April through June.
Kinney declined to say whether he discussed the tax credit proposal with Newsom or his staff. Newsom did not respond to a question about whether the language in the proposal came from his office and if he or anyone on his staff discussed it with Kinney.
Sources close to the governor say he and Kinney have long been cognizant of the potential for conflicts of interest stemming from their relationship and note that Newsom scrutinizes issues involving any of his political advisors. Newsom’s departing chief of staff, Ann O’Leary, also tried to establish boundaries and screen outside advisors for potential conflicts, according to the sources. After announcing the new lobbying policy this month, O’Leary asked the state’s political watchdog agency for ideas on practices to further limit undue influence.
During Newsom’s transition into the governor’s office in late 2018, Kinney‘s firm said he recommended candidates for jobs in the administration, an unpaid volunteer role that also has been deleted from his biography on the Axiom Advisors website. Kinney declined to answer a question about whether he has ever lobbied any of the people he recommended after they landed positions in the administration, or connected them to other members of his firm.
In the weeks before Newsom was sworn in, a spokesman for the governor said he adopted a rule that prevented those who worked on the transition from lobbying transition officials. Kinney already had deregistered as a lobbyist before working on the transition. But that ban, the governor’s staff said, was short-lived and ended when Newsom officially took office.
Three weeks after Newsom was inaugurated as California’s 40th governor — delivering a speech Kinney helped craft — Kinney registered as a lobbyist for his new firm, Axiom Advisors.
California laws allow lobbyists to advise the politicians they seek to influence. Government accountability advocates, including Rusch of CalPIRG, say that even if efforts were made to address lobbyists influencing the elected officials they advise, it would be difficult to establish effective legal boundaries on a tight friendship.
Kinney also has served as an advisor to Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg and was a spokesman and communications strategist for the state Senate’s Democratic Caucus and president pro tem’s office.
Kevin de León, a former leader of the state Senate who recently was elected to the Los Angeles City Council, said Kinney’s work for him and his Democratic colleagues never conflicted with his lobbying clients.
“He never, in one single instance, lobbied me on behalf of any of his clients,” De León said. “He had the good sense to know you keep a separation of church and state.”
Kinney’s activities have drawn the attention of the state’s political watchdog agency in the past. The Fair Political Practices Commission fined Kinney in 2013 for failing to properly register as a lobbyist and file disclosures about his activities.
An examination of Axiom’s clients through filings with the secretary of state shows the firm has been hired by several companies seeking to influence the governor and his administration. Some of those clients received favorable outcomes on their bills or issues, while others fell flat.
While Newsom grappled with the bankruptcy of PG&E, the largest investor-owned utility in California, Axiom made $220,000 to lobby him and the Legislature on behalf of a court-appointed panel of the company’s creditors.
The firm wrote in court documents that it spent a significant amount of time meeting with lawmakers and the governor’s office to discuss a law that established a $21-billion fund for PG&E and Newsom’s approval of the company’s reorganization plan, both described as major milestones in the case. Its work included efforts to “understand the governor’s views regarding the plan.”
Weedn, Axiom’s spokeswoman, said Kinney “did not lobby on behalf of the unsecured creditors of PG&E and has not had conversations with any officials about those issues.”
The Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors of PG&E, which represented financial institutions, contractors and electrical workers, paid Axiom $20,000 a month to lobby on the bankruptcy case for nearly a year. Axiom was required to file court documents requesting that a judge approve the payments and detailed more than 500 hours of work. Kinney reported a small number of hours worked, which included meetings with the Axiom team about the case, and other lobbyists on his team performed the bulk of the firm’s work, court filings show. The firm said that Kinney’s work did not involve lobbying.
Meanwhile, California environmentalists and government watchdog groups have been sounding the alarm about Axiom’s ties to a major oil company with business before the Newsom administration: Aera Energy, a partnership of Shell Oil and ExxonMobil.
Since April, the California Geologic Energy Management Division, known as CalGEM, has issued more than 50 new hydraulic fracturing permits to Aera Energy and Chevron.
Aera paid Axiom $200,000 in lobbying fees in 2019 and 2020, records at the secretary of state’s office show. The Newsom administration and CalGEM were listed among the agencies that Aera lobbied.
“Newsom’s close personal relationship with Kinney raises serious concerns that corporations that pay big money to Axiom can obtain preferential treatment from the governor,” said Derek Seidman of the Public Accountability Initiative, a Buffalo, N.Y.-based nonprofit focused on government and corporate accountability.
The oil permits issued to Aera came after a 2019 announcement by Newsom that he would temporarily block new hydraulic fracturing permits until the projects could be reviewed by an independent panel of scientists at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. State Oil and Gas Supervisor Uduak-Joe Ntuk said in August that the permits issued since April underwent that independent environmental review.
In October, Newsom called on the California Legislature to ban hydraulic fracturing, an action he said is not within his executive authority as governor — an opinion disputed by environmentalists.
Less than 10 days after Newsom made that announcement, CalGEM issued six new fracking permits to Aera Energy.
On behalf of Aera, Axiom also lobbied legislators on a bill that would have mandated health and safety buffer zones around oil and gas wells and refineries near schools, playgrounds, nursing homes and other sensitive residential areas. The legislation was strongly opposed by the oil industry and failed to pass in the state Senate.
Weedn said Kinney did not conduct any work or receive any personal compensation from Aera.
With the coronavirus surging, large regions of the state under stay-at-home orders and a budding recall effort to boot him from office, the governor’s French Laundry gaffe couldn’t come at a worse time, said Matt Rexroad, a former Yolo County supervisor and Republican political consultant.
“It’s one little problem snowballing and becoming a big deal,” Rexroad said. “Right now he’s under the microscope.”
Although Rexroad said Newsom’s decision to attend Kinney’s dinner raises questions about his leadership during the pandemic, he noted it’s not out of the ordinary for governors to have close friends who work as their political consultants and moonlight as lobbyists.
“It’s not a problem if the candidate and the consultant are both aware of the motives and it’s fully disclosed,” Rexroad said. “The governor is a politician. He’s going to hang out with political people, and Jason Kinney is a political person.”


latimes--2020-12-31--Big federal COVID-relief payout expected for LAUSD, but is it enough?

The Los Angeles school district stands to receive more than $ 1 billion from the new federal coronavirus relief bill — or about $ 2,150 per student — more than enough to wipe away a projected deficit for pandemic-related costs through the end of the school year , according to preliminary state estimates .
Combined with other funding , the total coronavirus support will add up to one of the largest-ever aid programs to local education .
The new federal funding would be in addition to a $ 2-billion statewide plan that Gov .
Gavin Newsom announced Wednesday to help @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s also in addition to $ 894 million in outside coronavirus aid L.A. Unified had already budgeted .
Officials in the nation ’ s second largest school district are not prepared to say that this enormous infusion of one-time funding will be enough for the mammoth task ahead .
District leaders must not only safely reopen schools , but address the learning loss and mental health needs of thousands of students brought on by ongoing social isolation , economic hardships and the disease itself as it courses through families .
“ There @ @ @ @ @ @ @ schools , distributed equitably , and for that , I ’ m grateful , ” said L.A. school board member Nick Melvoin .
“ But we ’ ll have years of ongoing expenses to mitigate the learning loss and address the trauma caused by this crisis , and it ’ s hard to know whether any onetime investment — from state or federal government — is enough until we know how long we ’ ll be in this.
” Although the funding is likely to exceed what L.A schools Supt .
Austin Beutner @ @ @ @ @ @ @ target additional dollars .
A key initiative that he wants to explore is mandatory in-person summer school .
That effort alone could cost $ 150 million to $ 200 million , he told The Times .
“ The Congress is on my naughty and nice list , ” he said at a recent appearance where he handed out donated gifts to district families in a Santa suit .
Nice because Congress passed the relief act , “ but they ’ re naughty because it ’ s not enough.
” Like other superintendents , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ funding projections because of future uncertainties .
Just as no one predicted in March that campuses would be closed for nine months and counting , future revenues also are hard to predict .
State and local budgets fund about 90 % of public school costs , and these budgets have been hammered by on-again , off-again economic slowdowns and shutdowns .
And the latest federal aid package contained relatively little to prop up state and city revenue .
Already , budget cuts are undermining coronavirus aid to schools in other states , but @ @ @ @ @ @ @ declined to comment , but prior to the winter break , he had been lobbying — along with leaders of other school systems — for $ 2,000 per student in coronavirus relief , an amount that L.A. Unified appears set to receive — and then some .
He and others initially scored the new federal funding at about $ 1,000 per student across the country .
And that led Beutner to unofficially calculate a ballpark figure of $ 400 million in new money for L.A. Unified , which has 465,000 students in kindergarten @ @ @ @ @ @ @ legislation doesn ’ t hand out money evenly .
Instead , it relies on formulas tied to federal anti-poverty aid , which is referred to as Title I funding .
This means , for example , that a school district with no low-income families would get no direct aid from the new relief bill .
The amount of Title I aid per student goes up when a district has a high concentration of low-income families — based on the idea that a concentration of poverty is harder to address .
L.A. Unified , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ surpasses the parameters that trigger higher funding rates .
As a result , the district , which has about 1 in 12 of the state ’ s students , receives about about one of every five Title I dollars going to California .
That ratio would provide coronavirus relief for L.A. Unified of up to $ 1.3 billion , according to a preliminary , unofficial review from the California Department of Education .
Other portions of the federal bill also may include significant dollars for the nation ’ s second-largest school system , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the state education department .
L.A. Unified ’ s combination of size and widespread poverty means that its aid dwarfs other school systems .
The district with the next highest amount is Fresno Unified with $ 182 million , according to figures calculated by the news site EdSource , which first posted funding estimates .
The aid is likely to give L.A. Unified the per-student funding that Beutner was seeking .
Many other school systems — those with lower numbers of financially struggling families — will have to make do with less per-student @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to hear that L.A. Unified is going to be getting this extra funding , ” said Elisha Smith Arrillaga , executive director of Education Trust—West , an Oakland-based research and advocacy group .
“ What ’ s going to be really important is that they target those funds to meet the needs of the students that have been most impacted.
” The planning should involve direct input from students and families , she added .
The new aid comes on top of about $ 894 million in state and federal relief funds already @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a district financial report from August .
The total of COVID aid — about $ 2 billion — compares to a pre-COVID general fund budget of about $ 7.8 billion .
L.A. Unified also can expect a healthy share of $ 2 billion in new state aid announced Monday , although exact figures are not yet available .
Beutner also has said the district should be reimbursed for an estimated $ 100 million in meals for adults , which it continues to provide as a public service .
Meals for students already are @ @ @ @ @ @ @ wants to be reimbursed for about $ 150 million it expects to spend on a pioneering , campus-based coronavirus testing effort .
Regardless of whether it gets more , “ this cash infusion might first ensure steady COVID testing of kids and teachers , ” said UC Berkeley English Professor Bruce Fuller , who has researched the district ’ s financial and learning resources .
“ Meticulous testing will make schools safe havens ” and potentially diminish concerns teachers and union leaders have about the safety of reopening campuses , he said .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ , including Ellen Myles , who are hopeful that the relief funding — and the concurrent vaccine rollout — will result in a reopening of campuses as soon as possible once the current rampant spread of infection and illness is contained .
Myles , who attended Beutner ’ s Santa event at Washington Prep , praised the school ’ s efforts to keep students learning , but said her 10th-grade daughter needs social connections to her peers — and that too many students simply aren ’ t keeping up academically .
“ A @ @ @ @ @ @ @ they ’ re not engaged , ” said Myles .
“ They don ’ t realize that that ’ s going to affect them in the long run when they do come back to school .
”

Holiday cheer appears headed to L.A. Unified in the form of $1 billion in COVID aid. Above, L.A. schools Supt. Austin Beutner, dressed as Santa Claus, hands out gifts at Washington Preparatory High in South L.A.
The Los Angeles school district stands to receive more than $1 billion from the new federal coronavirus relief bill — or about $2,150 per student — more than enough to wipe away a projected deficit for pandemic-related costs through the end of the school year, according to preliminary state estimates.
Combined with other funding, the total coronavirus support will add up to one of the largest-ever aid programs to local education. The new federal funding would be in addition to a $2-billion statewide plan that Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Wednesday to help school districts reopen their campuses. It’s also in addition to $894 million in outside coronavirus aid L.A. Unified had already budgeted.
Officials in the nation’s second largest school district are not prepared to say that this enormous infusion of one-time funding will be enough for the mammoth task ahead. District leaders must not only safely reopen schools, but address the learning loss and mental health needs of thousands of students brought on by ongoing social isolation, economic hardships and the disease itself as it courses through families.
Advertisement
“There is a decent amount in there for schools, distributed equitably, and for that, I’m grateful,” said L.A. school board member Nick Melvoin. “But we’ll have years of ongoing expenses to mitigate the learning loss and address the trauma caused by this crisis, and it’s hard to know whether any onetime investment — from state or federal government — is enough until we know how long we’ll be in this.”
Although the funding is likely to exceed what L.A schools Supt. Austin Beutner had recently sought, he continues to target additional dollars. A key initiative that he wants to explore is mandatory in-person summer school. That effort alone could cost $150 million to $200 million, he told The Times.
“The Congress is on my naughty and nice list,” he said at a recent appearance where he handed out donated gifts to district families in a Santa suit. Nice because Congress passed the relief act, “but they’re naughty because it’s not enough.”
Like other superintendents, Beutner has adopted a cautious approach to funding projections because of future uncertainties. Just as no one predicted in March that campuses would be closed for nine months and counting, future revenues also are hard to predict. State and local budgets fund about 90% of public school costs, and these budgets have been hammered by on-again, off-again economic slowdowns and shutdowns. And the latest federal aid package contained relatively little to prop up state and city revenue.
Already, budget cuts are undermining coronavirus aid to schools in other states, but not so far in California.
Beutner declined to comment, but prior to the winter break, he had been lobbying — along with leaders of other school systems — for $2,000 per student in coronavirus relief, an amount that L.A. Unified appears set to receive — and then some.
Advertisement
He and others initially scored the new federal funding at about $1,000 per student across the country. And that led Beutner to unofficially calculate a ballpark figure of $400 million in new money for L.A. Unified, which has 465,000 students in kindergarten through 12th grade. However, the legislation doesn’t hand out money evenly. Instead, it relies on formulas tied to federal anti-poverty aid, which is referred to as Title I funding.
This means, for example, that a school district with no low-income families would get no direct aid from the new relief bill. The amount of Title I aid per student goes up when a district has a high concentration of low-income families — based on the idea that a concentration of poverty is harder to address.
L.A. Unified, with 80% low-income families, far surpasses the parameters that trigger higher funding rates. As a result, the district, which has about 1 in 12 of the state’s students, receives about about one of every five Title I dollars going to California.
That ratio would provide coronavirus relief for L.A. Unified of up to $1.3 billion, according to a preliminary, unofficial review from the California Department of Education. Other portions of the federal bill also may include significant dollars for the nation’s second-largest school system, said Jonathan Mendick, a spokesman for the state education department.
L.A. Unified’s combination of size and widespread poverty means that its aid dwarfs other school systems. The district with the next highest amount is Fresno Unified with $182 million, according to figures calculated by the news site EdSource, which first posted funding estimates.
The aid is likely to give L.A. Unified the per-student funding that Beutner was seeking. Many other school systems — those with lower numbers of financially struggling families — will have to make do with less per-student aid.
“It’s exciting to hear that L.A. Unified is going to be getting this extra funding,” said Elisha Smith Arrillaga, executive director of Education Trust—West, an Oakland-based research and advocacy group. “What’s going to be really important is that they target those funds to meet the needs of the students that have been most impacted.”
The planning should involve direct input from students and families, she added.
The new aid comes on top of about $894 million in state and federal relief funds already allotted for L.A. Unified, according to a district financial report from August. The total of COVID aid — about $2 billion — compares to a pre-COVID general fund budget of about $7.8 billion. L.A. Unified also can expect a healthy share of $2 billion in new state aid announced Monday, although exact figures are not yet available.
Beutner also has said the district should be reimbursed for an estimated $100 million in meals for adults, which it continues to provide as a public service. Meals for students already are federally funded.
Similarly, the district wants to be reimbursed for about $150 million it expects to spend on a pioneering, campus-based coronavirus testing effort.
Regardless of whether it gets more, “this cash infusion might first ensure steady COVID testing of kids and teachers,” said UC Berkeley English professor Bruce Fuller, who has researched the district’s financial and learning resources. “Meticulous testing will make schools safe havens” and potentially diminish concerns teachers and union leaders have about the safety of reopening campuses, he said.
There are tens of thousands of parents, including Ellen Myles, who are hopeful that the relief funding — and the concurrent vaccine rollout — will result in a reopening of campuses as soon as possible once the current rampant spread of infection and illness is contained.
Myles, who attended Beutner’s Santa event at Washington Prep, praised the school’s efforts to keep students learning, but said her 10th-grade daughter needs social connections to her peers — and that too many students simply aren’t keeping up academically.
“A lot of children are falling behind because they’re not engaged,” said Myles. “They don’t realize that that’s going to affect them in the long run when they do come back to school.”


latimes--2020-12-31--San Francisco struggles to stem 'horrific' uptick in opioid overdoses, drug abuse

In early 2019 , a formerly homeless man named Tom Wolf posted a thank-you on Twitter to the cop who had arrested him the previous spring , when he was strung out in a doorway with 103 tiny bindles of heroin and cocaine in a plastic baggie at his feet .
“ You saved my life , ” wrote Wolf , who had finally gotten clean after that bust and 90 days in jail , ending six months of sleeping on scraps of cardboard on the sidewalk .
Today , he joins a growing chorus of people , including San @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the city to crack down on an increasingly deadly drug trade .
But there is little agreement on how that should be done .
Those who demand more arrests and stiffer penalties for dealers face powerful opposition in a city with little appetite for locking people up for drugs , especially as the Black Lives Matter and Defund the Police movements push to drastically limit the power of law enforcement to deal with social problems .
Drug overdoses killed 621 people in the first 11 months of 2020 , up from 441 all @ @ @ @ @ @ @ San Francisco is on track to lose an average of nearly two people a day to drugs in 2020 , compared with the 178 who had died by Dec. 20 of the coronavirus .
As in other parts of the country , most of the overdoses have been linked to fentanyl , the powerful synthetic opioid that laid waste to the eastern United States starting in 2013 but didn ’ t arrive in the Bay Area until about five years later .
Just as the city ’ s drug scene was awash with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 50 times stronger than heroin and sells on the street for around $ 20 for a baggie weighing less than half a gram — the coronavirus pandemic hit , absorbing the attention and resources of health officials and isolating drug users , making them more likely to overdose .
The pandemic is contributing to rising overdose deaths nationwide , according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention , which reported this month that a record 81,000 Americans died of an overdose in the 12 months ending in May .
“ This is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , and the solutions aren ’ t matching it , ” said Supervisor Matt Haney , who represents the Tenderloin and South of Market neighborhoods , where nearly 40 % of the deaths have occurred .
Haney , who has hammered City Hall for what he sees as its indifference to a life-or-death crisis , is calling for a more coordinated response .
“ It should be a harm reduction response , it should be a treatment response — and yes , there needs to be a law enforcement aspect of it too @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the city ’ s leadership came to a head in September , when Mayor London Breed supported an effort by City Attorney Dennis Herrera to clean up the Tenderloin by legally blocking 28 known drug dealers from entering the neighborhood .
But District Attorney Chesa Boudin , a progressive elected in 2019 on a platform of police accountability and racial justice , sided with activists opposing the move .
He called it a “ recycled , punishment-focused ” approach that would accomplish nothing .
People have died on the Tenderloin ’ s needle-strewn @ @ @ @ @ @ @ they were housed by the city to protect them from COVID-19 .
Older Black men living alone in residential hotels are dying at particularly high rates ; Blacks make up around 5 % of the city ’ s population but account for a quarter of the 2020 overdoses .
Last February , a man was found hunched over , ice-cold , in the front pew at St. Boniface Roman Catholic Church .
The only reason drug deaths aren ’ t in the thousands , say health officials , is the outreach that has @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s drug policy .
From January to October , 2,975 deaths were prevented by naloxone , an overdose reversal drug that ’ s usually sprayed up the nose , according to the DOPE Project , a city-funded program that trains outreach workers , drug users , the users ’ family members and others .
“ If we didn ’ t have Narcan , ” said program manager Kristen Marshall , referring to the common naloxone brand name , “ there would be no room at our morgue.
” The city is also hoping @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ] will approve safe consumption sites , where people can do drugs in a supervised setting .
Other initiatives , like a 24-hour meth sobering center and an overhaul of the city ’ s behavioral health system , have been put on hold because of pandemic-strained resources .
Efforts like the DOPE Project , the country ’ s largest distributor of naloxone , reflect a seismic shift over the last few years in the way cities confront drug abuse .
As more people have come to see addiction as a disease rather than @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for locking up low-level dealers , let alone drug users — policies left over from the “ war on drugs ” that began in 1971 under President Nixon and disproportionately punished Black Americans .
In practice , San Francisco police don ’ t arrest people for taking drugs , certainly not in the Tenderloin .
On a sunny afternoon in early December , a red-haired young woman in a beret crouched on a Hyde Street sidewalk with her eyes closed , clutching a piece of foil and a straw .
A few blocks @ @ @ @ @ @ @ curb injecting a needle into a thigh covered with scabs and scars , while two uniformed police officers sat in in a squad car across the street .
Last spring , after the pandemic prompted a citywide shutdown , police stopped arresting dealers to avoid contacts that might spread the coronavirus .
Within weeks , the sidewalks of the Tenderloin were lined with transients in tents .
The streets became such a narcotics free-for-all that many of the working-class and immigrant families living there felt afraid to leave their homes , according to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and residents .
It accuses City Hall of treating less wealthy ZIP codes as “ containment zones ” for the city ’ s ills .
The suit was settled a few weeks later after officials moved most of the tents to designated “ safe sleeping sites.
” But for many , the deterioration of the Tenderloin , juxtaposed with the gleaming headquarters of companies like Twitter and Uber just blocks away , symbolizes San Francisco ’ s starkest contradictions .
Mayor Breed , who lost her younger sister to a drug overdose in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on drug dealing .
The Federal Initiative for the Tenderloin was one such effort , announced last year .
It aims to “ reclaim a neighborhood that is being smothered by lawlessness , ” U.S. Attorney David Anderson said at a recent virtual news conference held to announce a major operation in which the feds arrested seven people and seized 10 pounds of fentanyl .
Law enforcement agencies have blamed the continued availability of cheap , potent drugs on lax prosecutions .
Boudin , however , said his office files charges in 80 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ most involve low-level dealers whom cartels can easily replace in a matter of hours .
He pointed to a federal sting last year that culminated in the arrest of 32 dealers — mostly Hondurans who were later deported — after a two-year undercover operation involving 15 agencies .
“ You go walk through the Tenderloin today and tell me if it made a difference , ” said Boudin .
His position reflects a growing “ progressive prosecutor ” movement that questions whether decades-old policies that focus on putting people behind bars are effective @ @ @ @ @ @ @ killing of George Floyd by the Minneapolis police energized a nationwide police reform campaign .
Cities around the country , including San Francisco , have promised to redirect millions of dollars from law enforcement to social programs .
“ If our city leadership says in one breath that they want to defund the police and are for racial and economic justice , and in the next talk about arresting drug dealers , they ’ re hypocrites and they ’ re wrong , ” said Marshall , leader of the DOPE Project .
But @ @ @ @ @ @ @ crackdown on dealers would send a message to the drug networks that San Francisco is no longer an open-air illegal drug market .
Like hundreds of thousands of other Americans who ’ ve succumbed to opiate misuse , he began with a prescription for the painkiller oxycodone , in his case following foot surgery in 2015 .
When the pills ran out , he made his way from his tidy home in Daly City , just south of San Francisco , to the Tenderloin , where dealers in hoodies and backpacks loiter three @ @ @ @ @ @ @ When he could no longer afford pills , Wolf switched to heroin , which he learned how to inject on YouTube .
He soon lost his job as a caseworker for the city and his wife threw him out , so he became homeless , holding large quantities of drugs for Central American dealers , who sometimes showed him photos of the lavish houses they were having built for their families back home .
Looking back , he wishes it hadn ’ t taken six arrests and three months behind bars before someone @ @ @ @ @ @ @ In San Francisco , it seems like we ’ ve moved away from trying to urge people into treatment and instead are just trying to keep people alive , ” he said .
“ And that ’ s not really working out that great.
” This story was produced by KHN ( Kaiser Health News ) , which publishes California Healthline , an editorially independent service of the California Health Care Foundation .
KHN is not affiliated with Kaiser Permanente .

Tom Wolf advocates for better treatment for those with addiction disorders and stiffer penalties for dealers.
In early 2019, a formerly homeless man named Tom Wolf posted a thank-you on Twitter to the cop who had arrested him the previous spring, when he was strung out in a doorway with 103 tiny bundles of heroin and cocaine in a plastic baggie at his feet.
“You saved my life,” wrote Wolf, who had finally gotten clean after that bust and 90 days in jail, ending six months of sleeping on scraps of cardboard on the sidewalk.
Today, he joins a growing chorus of people, including San Francisco’s mayor, calling for the city to crack down on an increasingly deadly drug trade. But there is little agreement on how that should be done. Those who demand more arrests and stiffer penalties for dealers face powerful opposition in a city with little appetite for locking people up for drugs, especially as Black Lives Matter and the movement to defund the police push to drastically limit the power of law enforcement to deal with social problems.
Advertisement
Drug overdoses killed 621 people in the first 11 months of 2020, up from 441 in 2019 and 259 in 2018. San Francisco lost an average of about two people a day to drugs in 2020, compared with the 178 who had died of COVID-19 by Dec. 20.
As in other parts of the country, most of the overdoses have been linked to fentanyl, the powerful synthetic opioid that laid waste to the eastern United States starting in 2013 but didn’t arrive in the San Francisco Bay Area until about five years later.
Just as the city’s drug scene was awash with the lethal new product — which is 50 times stronger than heroin and sells on the street for around $20 for a baggie weighing less than half a gram — the COVID-19 pandemic hit, absorbing the attention and resources of health officials and isolating drug users, making them more likely to overdose.
The pandemic is contributing to rising overdose deaths nationwide, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which reported this month that a record 81,000 Americans died of an overdose in the 12 months ending in May.
“This is moving very quickly in a horrific direction, and the solutions aren’t matching it,” said Supervisor Matt Haney, who represents the Tenderloin and South of Market neighborhoods, where nearly 40% of the deaths have occurred.
Haney, who has hammered City Hall for what he sees as its indifference to a life-or-death crisis, is calling for a more coordinated
response.
“It should be a harm-reduction response, it should be a treatment response — and yes, there needs to be a law enforcement aspect of it too,” he said.
Advertisement
Tensions within the city’s leadership came to a head in September, when Mayor London Breed supported an effort by City Atty. Dennis Herrera to clean up the Tenderloin by legally blocking 28 known drug dealers from entering the neighborhood.
But Dist. Atty. Chesa Boudin, a progressive elected in 2019 on a platform of police accountability and racial justice, sided with activists opposing the move. He called it a “recycled, punishment-focused” approach that would accomplish nothing.
People have died on the Tenderloin’s needle-strewn sidewalks and alone in hotel rooms where they were housed by the city to protect them from COVID-19. Older Black men living alone in residential hotels are dying at particularly high rates; Black people make up around 5% of the city’s population but account for a quarter of the 2020 overdoses. In February, a man was found hunched over, ice-cold, in the front pew at St. Boniface Catholic Church.
Hyde Street between Golden Gate and Turk is one of the Tenderloin’s most notorious blocks. Drugs are routinely sold and consumed in broad daylight, sometimes yards away from police officers.
(Rachel Scheier/Kaiser Health News)
The only reason drug deaths aren’t in the thousands, health officials say, is the outreach that has become the mainstay of the city’s drug policy. From January to October, 2,975 deaths were prevented by naloxone, an overdose reversal drug that’s usually sprayed up the nose, according to the DOPE Project, a city-funded program that trains outreach workers, drug users, the users’ family members and others.
“If we didn’t have Narcan,” said program manager Kristen Marshall, referring to the common naloxone brand name, “there would be no room at our morgue.”
The city is also hoping that state lawmakers in 2021 will approve safe consumption sites, where people can do drugs in a supervised setting. Other initiatives, such as a 24-hour meth sobering center and an overhaul of the city’s behavioral health system, have been put on hold because of pandemic-strained resources.
Efforts such as the DOPE Project, the country’s largest distributor of naloxone, reflect a seismic shift over the last few years in the way cities confront drug abuse. As more people have come to see addiction as a disease rather than a crime, there is little appetite for locking up low-level dealers, let alone drug users — policies left over from the “war on drugs” that began in 1971 under President Nixon and disproportionately punished Black Americans.
Outreach groups in the Tenderloin distribute meals, substance abuse services and naloxone — a medication designed to rapidly reverse an opioid overdose. (Rachel Scheier/Kaiser Health News)
In practice, San Francisco police don’t arrest people for taking drugs, certainly not in the Tenderloin. On a sunny afternoon in early December, a red-haired young woman in a beret crouched on a Hyde Street sidewalk with her eyes closed, clutching a piece of foil and a straw. A few blocks away, a man sat on the curb injecting a needle into a thigh covered with scabs and scars, while two uniformed police officers sat in a squad car across the street.
Last spring, after the pandemic prompted a citywide shutdown, police stopped arresting dealers to avoid contact that might spread the coronavirus. Within weeks, the sidewalks of the Tenderloin were lined with people in tents.
The streets became such a narcotics free-for-all that many of the working-class and immigrant families living there felt afraid to leave their homes, according to a federal lawsuit filed by business owners and residents. It accuses City Hall of treating less wealthy ZIP Codes as “containment zones” for the city’s ills.
The suit was settled a few weeks later after officials moved most of the tents to designated “safe sleeping sites.” But for many, the deterioration of the Tenderloin, juxtaposed with the gleaming headquarters of companies like Twitter and Uber just blocks away, symbolizes San Francisco’s starkest contradictions.
Mayor Breed, who lost her younger sister to a drug overdose in 2006, has called for a crackdown on drug dealing.
The Federal Initiative for the Tenderloin was one such effort, announced in 2019. It aims to “reclaim a neighborhood that is being smothered by lawlessness,” U.S. Atty. David Anderson said at a recent virtual news conference announcing a major operation in which the feds arrested seven people and seized 10 pounds of fentanyl.
Law enforcement agencies have blamed the continued availability of cheap, potent drugs on lax prosecutions.
Boudin, however, said his office files charges in 80% of felony drug cases, but most involve low-level dealers whom cartels can easily replace in a matter of hours.
He pointed to a federal sting in 2019 that culminated in the arrest of 32 dealers — mostly Hondurans who were later deported — after a two-year undercover operation involving 15 agencies.
“You go walk through the Tenderloin today and tell me if it made a difference,” Boudin said.
His position reflects a growing “progressive prosecutor” movement that questions whether decades-old policies that focus on putting people behind bars are effective or just.
In May, the killing of George Floyd by the Minneapolis police energized a nationwide police reform campaign. Cities around the country, including San Francisco, have promised to redirect millions of dollars from law enforcement budgets to social programs.
“If our city leadership says in one breath that they want to defund the police and are for racial and economic justice, and in the next talk about arresting drug dealers, they’re hypocrites and they’re wrong,” said Marshall, leader of the DOPE Project.
But Wolf, 50, believes a concerted crackdown on dealers would send a message to the drug networks that San Francisco is no longer an open-air illegal drug market.
Like hundreds of thousands of other Americans who’ve succumbed to opiate misuse, he began with a prescription for the painkiller oxycodone, in his case after foot surgery in 2015. When the pills ran out, he made his way from his tidy home in Daly City, just south of San Francisco, to the Tenderloin, where dealers in hoodies and backpacks loiter three or four deep on some blocks.
When he could no longer afford pills, Wolf switched to heroin, which he learned how to inject on YouTube. He soon lost his job as a caseworker for the city and his wife threw him out, so he became homeless, holding large quantities of drugs for Central American dealers, who sometimes showed him photos of the lavish houses they were having built for their families back home.
Looking back, he wishes it hadn’t taken six arrests and three months behind bars before someone finally pushed him toward treatment.
“In San Francisco, it seems like we’ve moved away from trying to urge people into treatment and instead are just trying to keep people alive,” he said. “And that’s not really working out that great.”
This story was produced by Kaiser Health News, which publishes California Healthline, an editorially independent service of the California Health Care Foundation. KHN is not affiliated with Kaiser Permanente.


latimes--2020-12-31--Some healthcare workers refuse to take COVID-19 vaccine, even with priority access

They are front-line workers with top priority access to the COVID-19 vaccine , but they are refusing to take it .
At St. Elizabeth Community Hospital in Tehama County , fewer than half of the 700 hospital workers eligible for the vaccine were willing to take the shot when it was first offered .
At Providence Holy Cross Medical Center in Mission Hills , one in five front-line nurses and doctors have declined the shot .
Roughly 20 % to 40 % of the L.A. County ’ s front-line workers who were offered the vaccine did the same , according @ @ @ @ @ @ @ many front-line workers in Riverside County have refused the vaccine — an estimated 50 % — that hospital and public officials met to strategize how best to distribute the unused doses , Public Health Director Kim Saruwatari said .
The vaccine doubts swirling among healthcare workers across the country come as a surprise to researchers , who assumed hospital staff would be among those most in tune with the scientific data backing the vaccines .
The scientific evidence is clear regarding the safety and efficacy of the vaccines after trials involving tens of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and those with chronic health conditions .
The shots are recommended for everyone except those who have had a severe allergic reaction to any of the ingredients .
April Lu , a 31-year-old nurse at Providence Holy Cross Medical Center , said she refused to take the vaccine because she is not convinced it is safe for pregnant women .
She is six months pregnant .
Clinical trials have yet to be conducted on pregnant women who take the vaccine , but experts believe the vaccine is unlikely to pose a specific risk @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Control .
The agency says pregnant women may choose to be vaccinated .
“ I ’ m choosing the risk — the risk of having COVID , or the risk of the unknown of the vaccine .
I think I ’ m choosing the risk of COVID .
I can control that and prevent it a little by wearing masks , although not 100 % for sure , ” Lu said .
Some of her co-workers have also declined to take the vaccine because they ’ ve gone months without contracting the virus @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of surviving it , she said .
“ I feel people think , ‘ I can still make it until this ends without getting the vaccine , ’ ” she said .
The extent to which healthcare workers are refusing the vaccine is unclear , but reports of lower-than-expected participation rates are emerging around the country , raising concerns for epidemiologists who say the public health implications could be disastrous .
A recent survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation found that 29 % of healthcare workers were “ vaccine hesitant , ” a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the general population , 27 % .
“ Even the name , Operation Warp Speed , draws some concern for people about the rush to push it through , ” said Dr. Medell Briggs-Malonson , an emergency medicine physician at UCLA Health who has received the vaccine .
Still , she urged her colleagues to do the same .
“ It ’ s certainly disappointing , ” said Sal Rosselli , the president of the National Union of Healthcare Workers .
“ But it ’ s not shocking , given what the federal @ @ @ @ @ @ @ months .
... Trust science .
It ’ s about science , and reality , and what ’ s right.
” The consequences are potentially dire : If too few people are vaccinated , the pandemic will stretch on indefinitely , leading to future surges , excessive strain on the healthcare system and ongoing economic fallout .
“ Our ability as a society to get back to a higher level of functioning depends on having as many people protected as possible , ” said Harvard epidemiologist Marc Lipsitch .
Respondents to the Kaiser @ @ @ @ @ @ @ wouldn ’ t get the vaccine said they worry about side effects ; they lack trust in the government to ensure the vaccines are safe ; they have concerns about the role of politics in the development of the vaccines ; or they believe the dangers of COVID-19 have been exaggerated .
In online forums , some healthcare workers throughout the country have expressed frustration over going first — a status some have associated with experimentation .
Nicholas Ruiz , an office assistant at the Natividad Medical Center in Salinas , Calif. , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and fears and misinformation about the disease as the public .
Though he interacts with nurses who treat COVID-19 patients , he ’ s not taking it and knows many others who aren ’ t .
“ I feel like the perception of the public with healthcare workers is incorrect .
They might think we ’ re all informed of all of this .
They might think that because we work in this environment , ” Ruiz said .
“ But I know there ’ s a lot of people that have the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ re still afraid of getting it.
” In Fresno County , interim Public Health Officer Dr. Rais Vohra said Tuesday that some “ people who are qualified to get the vaccine are not ready to get it.
” Such healthcare workers , including those who are pregnant or want to become pregnant , have been hesitant as questions about the long-term effects arise .
To persuade reluctant workers , many hospitals are using instructional videos and interactive webinars showing staff getting vaccinated .
At an Orange County hospital , Anthony Wilkinson , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ coronavirus patients , said he has co-workers who have “ lost faith in big pharma and even the CDC.
” Wilkinson made a Facebook video about the science behind the vaccine and has been updating friends and family on his progress after receiving it .
“ People are scared for me .
I can understand why .
It ’ s new and no one wants to be the first , ” he said .
The first allocations of the vaccine made by Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech arrived last week in Tehama County , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Wickenheiser , the Tehama County health officer , said 495 doses were first made available to healthcare workers at St. Elizabeth Community Hospital in Red Bluff , but the hospital “ basically returned 200 back to us.
” “ They gave us those vaccines back , and we quickly started moving it out and using it , ” Wickenheiser said .
“ I don ’ t want to be accused of having it in the freezer while we wait for people to make up their mind.
” At Laguna Honda Hospital in San @ @ @ @ @ @ @ nursing staff has opted out of the vaccine , said spokeswoman Zoe Harris .
As of Tuesday , UCLA Health had vaccinated 7,300 personnel out of more than 37,000 , though it wasn ’ t clear how many people had been offered the vaccine because the hospital didn ’ t release that information .
Officials acknowledged that “ there may be vaccine hesitancy in our workforce.
” “ We are not asking personnel to decide immediately whether to receive the vaccine .
We want to give those offered vaccines adequate time to make @ @ @ @ @ @ @ personnel will continue to understand that the benefits of vaccination clearly outweigh the risks , ” the hospital said in a statement .
The uncertainty is shared among staff inside nursing homes , which account for roughly 35 % of the more than 25,000 COVID-19 deaths in California .
But about a quarter of the staffers have voiced reluctance to take the vaccine , said nursing home administrators and employees interviewed by The Times .
“ They ’ re scared of the side effects , they don ’ t know what is going @ @ @ @ @ @ @ really protect them , ” said a licensed vocational nurse at a Los Angeles nursing home who asked that her name not be used because she ’ s not authorized to speak to the media .
“ It has become so political.
” She was reluctant to take the vaccine herself until the 95-bed facility she works in , which had been virus-free for months , was hit by the rapid community spread .
“ We have 16 new cases in just three days , ” she said .
“ It ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ even know how it happens.
” “ Reluctance ?
No question , there ’ s a lot of reluctance , ” said Dr. Michael Wasserman , medical director of the Eisenberg Village nursing home in Reseda and past president of the California Assn .
of Long Term Care Medicine , which represents doctors , nurses and others working in nursing homes .
“ Because there was no transparency or clarity from the federal government with the rollout , the states and the counties often didn ’ t know what was happening until the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ That makes the vaccine reluctance even worse.
” It ’ s unclear what happens when a hospital ends up with extra doses .
State guidance allows hospitals to offer the vaccine to lower-priority people if front-line workers have already been offered the vaccine .
In Tehama County , unused doses at hospitals are being distributed to the next group of people who are eligible : staff and residents of assisted living and skilled nursing facilities .
Meanwhile , the county ’ s health department is fielding daily phone calls about access , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ officer , adding , “ The public is asking on a daily basis : ‘ When are we going to get it ?
’ ” Times staff writers Laura Newberry and Jaclyn Cosgrove and staff photojournalist Francine Orr contributed to this report .

Colleen Shalby, Emily Baumgaertner, Hailey Branson-Potts, Alejandra Reyes-Velarde, Jack Dolan

April Lu, a 31-year-old nurse at Providence Holy Cross Medical Center, said she refused to take the vaccine because she was not convinced it was safe for pregnant women. She is six months pregnant.
They are frontline workers with top-priority access to the COVID-19 vaccine, but they are refusing to take it.
At St. Elizabeth Community Hospital in Tehama County, fewer than half of the 700 hospital workers eligible for the vaccine were willing to take the shot when it was first offered. At Providence Holy Cross Medical Center in Mission Hills, one in five frontline nurses and doctors have declined the shot. Roughly 20% to 40% of L.A. County’s frontline workers who were offered the vaccine did the same, according to county public health officials.
So many frontline workers in Riverside County have refused the vaccine — an estimated 50% — that hospital and public officials met to strategize how best to distribute the unused doses, Public Health Director Kim Saruwatari said.
Advertisement
The vaccine doubts swirling among healthcare workers across the country come as a surprise to researchers, who assumed hospital staff would be among those most in tune with the scientific data backing the vaccines.
The scientific evidence is clear regarding the safety and efficacy of the vaccines after trials involving tens of thousands of participants, including elderly people and those with chronic health conditions. The shots are recommended for everyone except those who have had a severe allergic reaction to any of the ingredients.
Still, skepticism remains.
April Lu, a 31-year-old nurse at Providence Holy Cross Medical Center, said she refused to take the vaccine because she was not convinced it was safe for pregnant women. She is six months pregnant.
Clinical trials have yet to be conducted on pregnant women who take the vaccine, but experts believe the vaccine is unlikely to pose a specific risk, according to the Centers for Disease Control. The agency says pregnant women may choose to be vaccinated.
“I’m choosing the risk — the risk of having COVID, or the risk of the unknown of the vaccine,” Lu said. “I think I’m choosing the risk of COVID. I can control that and prevent it a little by wearing masks, although not 100% for sure.”
Some of her co-workers have also declined to take the vaccine because they’ve gone months without contracting the virus and believe they have a good chance of surviving it, she said. “I feel people think, ‘I can still make it until this ends without getting the vaccine,’” she said.
Advertisement
ICU Nurses at Providence Holy Cross Medical Center. Some nurses have refused to take the vaccine. (Francine Orr/Los Angeles Times)
The extent to which healthcare workers are refusing the vaccine is unclear, but reports of lower-than-expected participation rates are emerging around the country, raising concerns for epidemiologists who say the public health implications could be disastrous.
A recent survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation found that 29% of healthcare workers were “vaccine hesitant,” a figure slightly higher than the percentage of the general population, 27%.
“Even the name, Operation Warp Speed, draws some concern for people about the rush to push it through,” said Dr. Medell Briggs-Malonson, an emergency medicine physician at UCLA Health who has received the vaccine. Still, she urged her colleagues to do the same.
“It’s certainly disappointing,” said Sal Rosselli, the president of the National Union of Healthcare Workers. “But it’s not shocking, given what the federal administration has done over the past 10 months. ... Trust science. It’s about science, and reality, and what’s right.”
The consequences are potentially dire: If too few people are vaccinated, the pandemic will stretch on indefinitely, leading to future surges, excessive strain on the healthcare system and ongoing economic fallout.
“Our ability as a society to get back to a higher level of functioning depends on having as many people protected as possible,” said Harvard epidemiologist Marc Lipsitch.
Respondents to the Kaiser Family Foundation survey who said they probably wouldn’t get the vaccine said they worried about side effects; they lacked trust in the government to ensure the vaccines were safe; they had concerns about the role of politics in the development of the vaccines; or they believed the dangers of COVID-19 had been exaggerated.
In online forums, some healthcare workers throughout the country have expressed frustration over going first — a status some have associated with experimentation.
Nicholas Ruiz, an office assistant at Natividad Medical Center in Salinas, Calif., said healthcare workers wrestled with the same doubts, fears and misinformation about the disease as the public. Though he interacts with nurses who treat COVID-19 patients, he’s not taking it and knows many others who aren’t.
“I feel like the perception of the public with healthcare workers is incorrect. They might think we’re all informed of all of this. They might think that because we work in this environment,” Ruiz said. “But I know there’s a lot of people that have the same mentality as the public where they’re still afraid of getting it.”
In Fresno County, interim Public Health Officer Dr. Rais Vohra said Tuesday that some “people who are qualified to get the vaccine are not ready to get it.” Such healthcare workers, including those who are pregnant or want to become pregnant, have been hesitant as questions about the long-term effects arise.
To persuade reluctant workers, many hospitals are using instructional videos and interactive webinars showing staff getting vaccinated. At an Orange County hospital, Anthony Wilkinson, an intensive care nurse who cares for coronavirus patients, said he had co-workers who had “lost faith in big pharma and even the CDC.”
Wilkinson made a Facebook video about the science behind the vaccine and was updating friends and family on his progress after receiving it. “People are scared for me,” he said. “I can understand why. It’s new and no one wants to be the first.”
The first allocations of the vaccine made by Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech arrived last week in Tehama County, home to 65,000 people.
Dr. Richard Wickenheiser, the Tehama County health officer, said 495 doses were first made available to healthcare workers at St. Elizabeth Community Hospital in Red Bluff, but the hospital “basically returned 200 back to us.”
“They gave us those vaccines back, and we quickly started moving it out and using it,” Wickenheiser said. “I don’t want to be accused of having it in the freezer while we wait for people to make up their mind.”
At Laguna Honda Hospital in San Francisco, about 10% of the nursing staff has opted out of the vaccine, said spokeswoman Zoe Harris.
As of Tuesday, UCLA Health had vaccinated 7,300 personnel out of more than 37,000, though it wasn’t clear how many people had been offered the vaccine because the hospital didn’t release that information. Officials acknowledged that “there may be vaccine hesitancy in our workforce.”
“We are not asking personnel to decide immediately whether to receive the vaccine. We want to give those offered vaccines adequate time to make a decision, and we hope that personnel will continue to understand that the benefits of vaccination clearly outweigh the risks,” the hospital said in a statement.
The uncertainty is shared among staff inside nursing homes, which account for roughly 35% of the more than 25,000 COVID-19 deaths in California.
But about a quarter of the staffers have voiced reluctance to take the vaccine, said nursing home administrators and employees interviewed by The Times.
“They’re scared of the side effects, they don’t know what is going to happen or if it will really protect them,” said a licensed vocational nurse at a Los Angeles nursing home who asked that her name not be used because she was not authorized to speak to the media. “It has become so political.”
She was reluctant to take the vaccine herself until the 95-bed facility she works in, which had been virus-free for months, was hit by the rapid community spread. “We have 16 new cases in just three days,” she said. “It’s so fast, we don’t even know how it happens.”
“Reluctance? No question, there’s a lot of reluctance,” said Dr. Michael Wasserman, medical director of the Eisenberg Village nursing home in Reseda and past president of the California Assn. of Long Term Care Medicine, which represents doctors, nurses and others working in nursing homes.
“Because there was no transparency or clarity from the federal government with the rollout, the states and the counties often didn’t know what was happening until the last minute,” he said. “That makes the vaccine reluctance even worse.”
It’s unclear what happens when a hospital ends up with extra doses. State guidance allows hospitals to offer the vaccine to lower-priority people if frontline workers have already been offered the vaccine.
In Tehama County, unused doses at hospitals are being distributed to the next group of people who are eligible: staff and residents of assisted living and skilled nursing facilities.
Meanwhile, the county’s health department is fielding daily phone calls about access, said Wickenheiser, the Tehama County health officer, adding, “The public is asking on a daily basis: ‘When are we going to get it?’”
Times staff writers Laura Newberry and Jaclyn Cosgrove and staff photojournalist Francine Orr contributed to this report.