Martinez, Ruben
Subject: FW: Public comment for the council meeting Monday 1/9/22 From: Aly Pernecky < [email protected]>
Sent: Sunday, January 9, 2022 2:09 PM
To: Jomsky, Mark <[email protected]>
Subject: Public comment for the council meeting Monday 1/9/22 CAUTION: This email was delivered from the Internet. Do not click links or open attachments unless you know the content is safe. Report phish using the Phish Alert Button. Learn mor....
January 9, 2022
Dear Council,
Thank you for continuing to listen to the community especially during these most difficult past 2 years. As a nearly 25-year resident of Pasadena, it is comforting to know that our city council prioritizes its citizens and takes rational approaches to issues that affect us.
Having said that, I am really hoping for that same rational discussion when it comes to the continuing, and in the most recent release, expanding of mandates in reaction to the Omicron variant. In particular, I am extremely worried about the blanket approach to our children when it comes to boosters, masks, and mandatory quarantines.
According to a Washington Post article from Saturday, Dr. Peter Hotez (head of vaccine development at Baylor University College of Medicine), "Vaccine protection against symptomatic infection of Omicron drops from 70-75% to 30-40% after 8-12 weeks." According to the CDC, "anyone with Omicron infection can spread the virus to others regardless of vaccination/booster status." And more frighteningly, according the government's own VAERS data (attached below), as of 12/31/21, there have been 9,778 deaths and 11,413 permanent disability reports. Keep in mind that every VAERS report must be verified by HHS. These are numbers that cannot be ignored, especially when doing a risk/benefit analysis of the vaccines. For context, I couldn't wait for my 83-year-old mother-in- law to get her booster. She is smack dab in the middle of the high-risk category. My children, however, are in the very low-risk category.
What is the goal of the vaccine and booster? Initially, we were ALL told the vaccine would prevent us from getting and/or spreading the virus. We quickly learned that was NOT the case. We are now told to get vaccinated and boosted to "prevent serious illness and hospitalization." These vaccines are about protecting the individual that takes them - as all vaccines should be. My 18-year-old child- who had covid over the Christmas break - had mild cold symptoms for a few days. She is technically eligible for a booster and if she doesn't take it, will be forced to quarantine with any close contact tracing. Her doctors and other medical professionals say she should not get a booster right now. The PHD mandate does not allow for this. WHY does she need a booster to prevent serious illness or hospitalization when her OWN immune system did that for her? Are we so sure the risks of boosting her - I assume at a minimum every 6 months - do not outweigh the benefits? If ONE child is injured taking a booster they don't need, isn't that ONE child too many? Can PHD guarantee she would be ok? These are questions that MANY parents are asking. SO many kids got Omicron over the last few weeks. This is extremely relevant to many Pasadena residents. 01/10/2022
1 Item A
I understand there is concern with the sheer numbers of people testing positive (most, if not all, with the less virulent Omicron variant) in Pasadena. I would hope that, after 2 years of very stringent mask, vaccine and distancing mandates, we can look at the data, and weigh it against the damage these mandates are doing - especially to our kids. I look at pictures of my kids when they were younger and I want to cry for them and for the kids that are that age now. This is NO way to grow up! SURGICAL masking for 8+ HOURS a day - in a classroom while interacting with teachers and peers, outdoors while eating lunch or while playing sports - THINK about that truly. What have we done? I will leave you with one final story out of Houston, Texas. A mother, also a teacher, drove her teenage son to get tested for covid IN THE TRUNK OF HER CAR because she was so scared. Again, what have we done but also HOW CAN WE FIX IT?
Thank you for asking these questions and for expecting answers that is science-based and not simply, "this is what we recommend." We deserve to know WHY. These are our children. It's our job to protect them and not the other way around.
Respectfully,
Alyson Pernecky
District 5
VAERS Summary for COVID-19 Vaccines through 12/51/2021
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Martinez, Ruben
From: Erika Foy <
Sent: inday, January 09, 2022 1:31 P.
To: iblicComment-AutoResponse; Jomsky, Mar
Cc: Wilson, Andy; Gordo, Victor; Madison, Steve; Hampton, Tyron; Kennedy, John J.; Masuda, Gene; Williams, Felicia
Subject: Back to Normalcy - Kids in Crisis
Attachments: Back to Normalcy- Kids in Crisis.pdf
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Dear Mr Jomsky, Council and Mayor,
Please submit my letter for public comment for tomorrows council meeting. Many thanks, Erika Foy Sent from Erika's iPhone
01/10/2022
Item A
1 PROTECT
PASADENA
KIDS
January 10, 2022
Pasadena City Council
% Mark Jomsky
100 North Garfield Ave.
Pasadena, CA 91101
Re: COVID-19 UPDATE FROM DR. YING-YING GOH, PUBLIC HEALTH OFFICER AND DR. LORI MORGAN, PRESIDENT OF HUNTINGTON HOSPITAL
"American children are starting 2022 in crisis" was the opening line to the New York Times Morning Report article on January 4th titled, No Way to Grow Up. I couldn't help but think about kids here in California and right here at home in Pasadena. There is no denying we are facing an unprecedented number of COVID cases. As a result, Pasadena Public Health Department (PPHD) came out with substantial changes to the public health reopening protocol for schools to hopefully mitigate the transmission as kids went back to school after the holiday. These guidelines call for kids to be masked outdoors, teachers to wear surgical masks, students are encouraged to wear surgical masks, and students who have had close contact with COVID must quarantine for a minimum of 5 days even if they just were infected with COVID over the holiday. Only those kids and teens who are eligible, and have received the booster shot, are able to avoid quarantine from close contact (see attachment). In addition, the guidelines set out by the PHHD authorizes and encourages schools to be more strict than what the State or local health department defines in their guidelines.
Will these new and more stringent guidelines get our kids closer to what we all consider a normal return to school like we all remember; running, playing, learning and eating without concern for the latest variant and masking for protection? I think it is important PPHD present measurable metrics in conjunction with these newest mandates to warrant these stricter guidelines. What is the goal and when will this end, knowing we are two years into kids struggling? My concern is we are finding ourselves doubling down on guidelines that appear to be failing, as we see our cases rising dramatically in spite of the strict mandates.
It is past time to assess our public health decisions in combination with the effects on kids, and begin looking at our protocols in terms of their measurable impacts. We must demand metrics tied to obtainable goals which keep kids mental and physical health in mind. So far, our track record of keeping kids less impacted from strict measures is nowhere near stellar here in California. After almost two years of COVID taking over our lives, we now know children still have not regained their learning loss from previous school closures, cases of mental health problems are skyrockting, suicide attempts have risen by 51% according to the CDC, and sadly, many schools still have not returned to normal. A new and very comprehensive report from the California Department of Education shows just how much California kids are behind in school. State Board of Education President Linda Darling-Hammond said in a Friday statement, "Our road ahead is clear — we must continue to focus our energy and resources in supporting our students, families, and educators so they not only recover from the impacts of COVID-19 but thrive in days ahead, this must remain our top priority."
While I commend Pasadena schools and the health department for working so tirelessly to minimize the spread of COVID, it seems we need to remind these entities that providing measurable goals with these now stricter mandates are imperative to ensure our kids can manage and thrive again. It is concerning that we know COVID is not as dangerous to children, yet they have now statistically proven to have paid the highest price, and still do. The overall hospitalization rate among children and teens is still lower than that of any other age group and Rochelle Walensky of the CDC said herself on January 4th, "the (latest) numbers include children hospitalized because of COVID-19 and those admitted for other reasons but found to be infected." In total, these numbers account for less than 5% of average new daily hospital admissions, according to the CDC.
Public health agencies like PPHD, as well as public and private schools, have a core responsibility to families and kids they reside over. Parents entrust their children to those in decision-making positions to think about the entire problem of safety and health from every angle. Maybe if we knew masking and stricter mandates worked, and measurable goals were in place to achieve normalcy, we would be more apt to wholeheartedly support these new measures. We know so much more about COVID since March of 2020, and it appears we are still treating the dashboard case numbers with similar strategies rather than looking at the public health in its entirety to help kids feel normal again. I think it is important to note not all health agencies have been making the same mandates. Geoff Shullenberger, a writer and academic for UnHerd recently noted, there have been differences between counties in how they manage public health and COVID. "For instance, Los Angeles county, with vaccine and mask mandates, fared no better after implementing them — slightly worse, in fact - than neighbouring Orange County, which had neither." We must ask ourselves, are our new public health actions proportionate to the involved risk we are now seeing? I recently learned in a Bloomberg opinion piece, "that kids ages one through 24, Covid-19 has proved to be only about one-tenth as dangerous as cars and trucks normally are." Do we therefore stop driving kids around to avoid the potential danger? Of course not. It does however, make me question if we are correctly distributing the benefits and risks of mandates and protocols by having kids in stifling surgical masks, quarantining at home for close contacts for days on end, and going beyond CDC recommendations for COVID protocols. Even more concerning is that we have hosted the Rose Parade, Rose Bowl and soon the Super Bowl here in LA while kids face even stricter protocols and believe me, they see these events and that also does serious harm to their trust that these measures work and are in place for the right reasons. My daughter knows she can sit inside a restaurant maskless, and three feet away from another patron, BUT when she goes to school she eats outside and must keep her mask on when she is not taking a bite of food? It makes no sense.
I hope we can eventually reach a new normal which takes kids into consideration and treats them as growing human beings with the ability to reach appropriate developmental milestones without having to overcome these unnecessary obstacles. I also hope we can finally have our local leaders specify the goals -
we are attempting to meet by their actions so we can begin to make sense of all this. There are many kids around this country, and the entire world, who do not face the type of archaic policies of masks and quarantine in which our children continue to be entrenched. We must demand our public agencies to be more clear as to why we must continue in this fashion. As for now, it is as opaque as ever. Let's move beyond the COVID cases in our dashboard and begin treating our kids who remain in crisis by recognizing their needs first and foremost.
On Behalf of Protect Pasadena Kids,
Erika Foy
• Required: All persons identified to have had an exposure to a COVID-19 positive case at school are notified by the School Compliance Lead of the exposure through a letter or other communication strategies. A School Exposure Notification letter template is available at: COVID- 19 Template Notification Letters for Education Settings. The notification of exposure should include the following messages:
• PPHD is working with the school to provide guidance on case investigation, contact tracing, testing isolation and quarantine requirements.
• Requirements for close contacts who are not exempt from quarantine:
• The following close contacts are required to quarantine:
• Persons who are not fully vaccinated* (including persons previously infected with SARS-CoV-2, including within the last 90 days) OR
• Persons who are fully vaccinated and booster-eligible but have not yet received their booster dose (see Table 1, below).
Close contacts who are required to quarantine must self-quarantine (stay in their home or another residence, separate from others) and monitor for symptoms as outlined in the PPHD Quarantine Order Flyer. As long as symptoms of COVID-19 are not present they may end quarantine either:
• After 10 full days have passed from their last known contact to the infectious case. Activities may resume starting on Day 11 provided they are asymptomatic.
• After at least 5 full days have passed from their last known contact to the infectious case if they have a negative viral test result from a specimen collected on Day 5 or later from the date of last exposure to the case.
Activities may resume starting on Day 6 or later. The test must be an FDA- authorized viral COVID-19 test (e.g., NAAT/PCR preferred, or antigen test including an FDA-authorized over-the-counter test acceptable). If the test is positive, follow PPHD Home Isolation Order Flyer for COVID-19. Exposed persons who were previously infected with SARS-CoV-2 virus within the past 90 days should test use an antigen test.
Regardless of when quarantine ends, close contacts must continue to monitor their COVID-19 Exposure Management Plan Guidance in TK-12 Schools Page 4 of 11 1/5/2022
Martinez, Ruben
From: Brent
Sent: Monday, January 10, 2022 7:27 AM
To: PublicComment-AutoResponse
Subiect: Pasadena Public library
CAUTION: This email was delivered from the Internet. Do not click links or open attachments unless you know the content is (safe. Report phish using the Phish Alert Button. Learn more...
We all know the reason they closed the public library was COVID.. it's dialing down now so will you ask Ron Ta tieuchi tropen the lirary There is no excuse in keep the library closed a single day longer Ifthry won' The city needs it's public services, NOW.
Brent
01/10/2022
1 Item A
Martinez, Ruben
From: Mary Forrest <1. n>
Sent: Monday, January 10, 2022 2:05 PM
To: PublicComment-AutoResponse; Jomsky, Mark
Cc: Gordo, Victor; Madison, Steve; Goh, Ying-Ying; Erika Foy; Noelle Aloe; Aly Pernecky Subject: Letter to be public record
Attachments: Counici letter 1.10.22.docx
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Hello,
Please see letter attached and submit as public record for today's council meeting.
Regards,
Mary Forrest
01/10/2022
Item A
1 From the Desk of
MARY FORREST
January 10, 2022
Mayor Gordo, City Council, Pasadena Health Department
c/o Mark Jomsky
City Clerk
100 North Garfield Ave.
Pasadena, CA 91101
Re: COVID-19
Dear Mayor, City Council, and Dr. Goh,
I am writing today to speak to you on behalf of my children and the outdated protocols that are making it impossible for them to be in school. First, I would like to tell you a bit about myself and how COVID has impacted my family. I am the mother of 4 young boys 6, 4, 2, and 2 months. When the pandemic hit, my oldest, Brodie, was finishing up preschool. His entire time in formal school experience has been with COVID. Can you imagine what that is like when comparing it to your own experience? He has ADHD and at home learning proved to be extremely difficult for us. We had to deal with massive learning regressions and behavioral issues. He is behind on reading because he cannot see his teacher's face when going over phonics. Brodie is an extremely outgoing and active child. He hates wearing a mask and if he knows he must wear one in certain situations, he will refuse to go. My 4 and 2 year old will not know a life without COVID dictating our very move. I have struggled severely during these uncertain times. I have severe anxiety to which I have had to be professionally treated. My family is lucky, we have the resources that allow us to get help but so many don't have those options. I was talking with some other moms from Brodie's class and found out that at least 7 kids in Brodie's class are in therapy due to the pandemic.
Now, that we are almost two years into dealing with COVID-19 we've learned a lot. Vaccines are available to all those wish to take it.
We know that the disease is very unlikely transmitted outside. We've learned that masking is not as effective in preventing the disease from spreading. The main study for which the CDC was using to justify masks in school was recently exposed in an article in the Atlantic for not following proper study protocols. Additionally, we've learned that thankfully, children are not impacted by this disease in the same way adults are. Yet, our children have had to pay the biggest price. We've also learned some negative impacts COVID shutdowns have had on people, specifically our children, drug use, suicide, eating disorders, anxiety, behavior issues among many others.
On New Year's Day, I had the opportunity to go to the Rose Bowl game. It was so wonderful to be back. There were 59,000 people in the stadium. Everyone was crammed together, hardly anyone was wearing cloth masks and even fewer were wearing n95s or surgical masks. Everyone was happy and joyful. As I sat in my seat, I began to feel disgusted. My boys could have been at that game enjoying a wonderful mask free event, yet they cannot sit next to their friends at lunch time. They must constantly wear a mask unless eating. And now, despite all we have learned, their school is saying we have to wear n95's outside? I grew up in Pasadena. My husband and I chose to come back here to raise our own family, but we are so disappointed by how you have chosen to deal with this pandemic. Instead of using the information we have learned about COVID19 to help move us forward, the Health Department is using fear of a COVID surge to move us backward. At this point, what we are asking our kids to do and to give up is looking like child abuse and you, as our leaders need to step up and protect our children. You need to hold the health department responsible for their unreasonable standards. And most importantly, our children's education should be prioritized over a football game where absolutely no protocols were enforced.
When is this going to end? What needs to be accomplished to get back to normal life? Why are we testing kids who don't have symptoms? Why are we allowing COVID-19 to disrupt their entire life when their risk of severe illness is so low? Why am I being told they need a vaccine to "keep them safe" when there are no studies on how it will impact their life long-term? Enough is enough. Protect our kids.
Respectfully,
Mary Forrest
Martinez, Ruben
From: Ryan Forrest
Sent: Monday, January 10, 2022 2:26 PM
To: 'ublicComment-AutoResponse
Subiect: ublic comment for City Council Meeting Agenda, Item A, 1/10/2022 CAUTION: This email was delivered from the Internet. Do not click links or open attachments unless you know the content is safe. Report phish using the Phish Alert Button. Learn more...
Good Afternoon Council,
First off, thank you for taking the brave decision to allow the Rose Parade and other New Soar's day eve is to sader to see east are and promontor magine the process of approving these events to happen.
These events were a light in what has become a very dark time for our City. The constantly changing guidelines and goalposts for educators, administrators, parents and students related to Covid and schools needs to stop. When are we going to get on board that these overbearing regulations have severe impacts on the mental health of our children? I am thankful that I have the emotional intelligence and history of seeing a counselor/therapist so I have the tools and resources to try and adjust to these overbearing regulations. However, my 6 and 4 year olds don't. They need to be in school. Every time that someone tests positive, they shouldn't have to quarantine, regardless of vaccination status. It is proven that the vaccine does not prevent transmission. I myself got Covid, and I am vaccinated.
The leadership that it took to get people in seats at the Rose Bowl is one thing. Now let's see that leadership get kids in seats at schools, and KEEP them there.
I think parents have gotten complacent because kids have been in schools in the fall semester, but the City should expect parents to come in full force as they find their voice again.
Unfortunately, the City is probably going to lose another family to a neighboring City or maybe state due to overbearing rules and regulations that we are implementing for our schools.
Please feel free to reach out to me (Councilmember Madison's Chief of Staff has my contact information) but it is also located in my signature block below.
Thank you,
-Ryan
--
01/10/2022
1 Item A
Ryan H. Forrest
2 Martinez, Ruben
From: Noelle ALOE <
Sent: Monday, January 10, 2022 3:55 PM
To: PublicComment-AutoResponse
Cc: Jomsky, Mark
Subject: Public comment January 10
Attachments: Save California Students Now.docx
CAUTION: This email was delivered from the Internet. Do not click links or open attachments unless you know the content is safe. Report phish using the Phish Alert Button. Learn more...<https://mydoit.cityofpasadena.net/sp?id=kbarticle view&sysparm_article=KB0010263>.
Please submit under Covid correspondence,
Thank you
Sent from my iPhone
01/10/2022
Item A
1 SAVE
CALIFORNIA
STUDENTS
January 10, 2022
Honorable Mayor Victor Gordo
Members of the City Council
City of Pasadena
175 North Garfield Avenue
Pasadena, CA 91109
Good afternoon members of the city council and Dr. Goh. We would like to thank you for your service to the city and the many hours you put in for the benefit of the residents of Pasadena.
It is difficult to quantify the damage perpetrated on our children by the state and local governments as a result of online learning, mask wearing, testing and living in a state of fear and uncertainty. The current environment where kids must test and quarantine on a massive scale cannot continue and is not viable.
The never-ending state of emergency, by which unelected officials maintain power and mandate policies, and the lack of transparency on science and data on which these policies have been based, have resulted in a massive disruption to our children's lives and education. Pasadena citizens, and most especially parents, are tired of being governed by unelected health officials in violation of our constitutional rights to transparency, public participation, and due process. We as parents would like to decide what is best for our children's health and safety.
The Emergency Services Act states that an emergency can be declared when there exists "extreme peril to the safety of persons and property within the state." The act also states that government must terminate the state of emergency at the earliest possible date that conditions warrant. A state of emergency cannot be indefinite.
My question to you today is when does this state of emergency and PDPH's emergency powers end? What are the metrics set to end this emergency?
How do the COVID numbers justify these measures? The CDC director today said that 75% of Covid deaths occurred in people with at least four comorbidities. She also stated that "In some hospitals, up to 40% of the patients coming in with COVID are coming in not because they are sick with COVID but because they are coming in with something else and have had the Omicron variant detected." Are we still counting cases and not deaths? When we count hospitalizations, what are the true numbers that are FROM Covid, not WITH Covid and how many are actually admitted, not sent home? The CDC numbers show 210,222 total deaths in ages 0-64 years of age, and these numbers do not take out obesity related covid deaths, which is the highest risk factor for hospitalization and death. This is a survival rate of 99.65% for this age group, counting the co morbidity of obesity. We also now know that 100% of pediatric deaths in children happened to those with preexisting conditions. These numbers do not justify a continued state of emergency.
You may already know that the Orange County Board of Education and Children's Health Defense on Tuesday filed a petition for writ of mandate in the California Supreme Court asking the court to declare an immediate end to the governor's declared state of emergency. "This concerns fundamental issues of governance that are the foundation of American self-government and which cannot exist in an indefinite state of emergency," said Street, an attorney on the case, who last year successfully litigated a similar case against the state, after state health officials arbitrarily closed gyms.
In conclusion, despite knowing for well over a year that kids are at very little risk from COVID and also poor vectors for transmitting it, we have upended their lives. We have worsened our childhood obesity epidemic and created an adolescent mental-health crisis. We've lost years of academic progress in older children and missed basic developmental milestones in younger ones.
And here we are doing it all over again.
Half the kids will be absent in January with these rules on quarantines and boosters that do not have data to support them, for no reason. Omicron is much milder variant. We are no longer trying to prevent death — we are trying to prevent sniffles.
Kids getting COVID now — many of them fully vaccinated - have the symptoms of a cold and a short cold at that. It is time to stop these draconian rules of quarantines and testing that keep our kids out of school and in fear, damaging mental health further.
Mayor Gordo and members of the city council, you are the officials elected by the people and we ask that you start to question this state of emergency and the decisions being made by the leaders that hold the powers under this order. You are the voice for We the People and we are questioning orders that defy science and facts and logic and do more harm than good. This is the first time in history where we have used children to protect adults. It is time for us as adults to now let go of the fear and look at the truth and start standing up for and protecting our children. Not from the sniffles, but from policies that keep them out of school, derail their development and learning and damage their mental health.
Sincerely,
Save California Kids (a group of Pasadena Moms committed to advocating for our children)