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2022-02-15 CC Agenda SPC - Public Communications related to Item #2 - Masking2022-02-15 CC AGENDA PACKET SPC PUBLIC COMMUNICATIONS RELATED TO ITEM #2 - MASKING Harada, Patricia From: Weaver, Tracy (City Clerk) Sent: Monday, February 14, 2022 6:06 PM To: *ALL CITY CLERKS Subject: Fwd: Mask mandate in schools Council received email below. —Tracy Sent from my iPhone Begin forwarded message: From: Gretchen Szabo <gretszabo@sbcglobal.net> Date: February 14, 2022 at 5:59:37 PM PST To: ALL ELECTED OFFICIALS <ALLELECTEDOFFICIALS@elsegundo.org> Subject: Mask'mandate in schools To whom it may concern. I have two sons. One is in the 8th grade and is doing independent study. My other son is in 12th grade and goes in person. I don't agree with the possibility of lifting the mask requirement for the kids indoors in the schools. Some kids are high risk or have siblings or parents at home who are high risk. I feel the masks are keeping the transmission down. Gretchen Szabo Sent from my iPhone Harada, Patricia From: Weaver, Tracy (City Clerk) Sent: Monday, February 14, 2022 2:55 PM To: *ALL CITY CLERKS Subject: Fwd: Mask Mandate Council received email below. -Tracy Sent from my iPhone Begin forwarded message: From: Cindy Curti <cindycurti@yahoo.com> Date: February 14, 2022 at 1:35:26 PM PST To: ALL ELECTED OFFICIALS<ALLELECTEDOFFICIALS@elsegundo.org> Subject: Mask Mandate Good afternoon, In light of the fact that Mayor Drew Boyles, LA Mayor Eric Garcetti and almost the entire SoFi stadium attendants were not wearing masks yesterday in direct conflict of the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health mask mandate, I am asking that the city of El Segundo request the LA County Department of Public Health to lift the mask mandate. It is obviously being ignored anyway. Respectfully, Cindy Curti (24 year El Segundo resident) Harada, Patricia From: Weaver, Tracy (City Clerk) Sent: Monday, February 14, 2022 12:54 PM To: *ALL CITY CLERKS Subject: Fwd: Mask choice Council received email below. Tracy Sent from my iPhone Begin forwarded message: From: Jessica Hammer <jessicahammer919@gmail.com> Date: February 14, 2022 at 12:49:00 PM PST To: ALL ELECTED OFFICIALS <ALLELECTEDOFFICIALS@elsegundo.org> Cc: "Pimentel, Chris (Mayor Pro Tem)" <cpimentel@elsegundo.org>, "Pirsztuk, Carol (Council Member)" <cpirsztuk@elsegundo.org>, "Boyles,Drew (Mayor)" <dboyles@elsegundo.org>, "Giroux, Lance (Council Member)" <Igiroux@elsegundo.org>, "Nicol, Scot (Council Member)" <snicol@elsegundo.org> Subject: Mask choice To Whom it may concern, I heard people in the community are writing to you all to give their thoughts and feelings of the mask mandate. I am local mom of two kids in ESUSD, as well an employee of ESUSD. I know you all, as well as the district's hands are tied in following the rules and regulations that have been set in place by others regarding masks. I wanted to share my personal (and maybe somewhat professional) opinion. The kids are not okay. This year we have seen more behaviors and dysregulation from all students, from the 3 year olds at Eagle's Nest to the Seniors in High school. Many of these kids have missed out on so many wonderful experiences and memories of their journey through school that they will never get back. For instance, a simple one such as seeing their teacher's face. We are well into semester two of this school year and there are people I have been working with all year that I just now saw them with a mask down. And I know I am not the only one. So much of human connection and conversation is through facial expressions. Especially for the population I work with, the children with special needs. We are missing out on teaching so many learned social cues for our students. My son, a fifth grader, has anxiety that has heightened over the last two years. He called me upset he forgot his mask for school last week. He was so worried he would be in trouble for not having a mask that before the school doors opened for him to ask for one (which is really not a big deal to anyone else) he picked the skin on his fingers until they bled. My daughter, a kindergartner, went to a birthday party for a girl in her class at the park in December- 4 months of being in school with these friends everyday. There were several parties happening at the same time but she couldn't find the party she was invited to because she didn't know what the birthday girl looked like without a mask on. These are just a small handful of stories why our kids deserve to go to school without masks. I have plenty more. I know you all are working, and have worked, tirelessly over the last few years to keep up with the mandates and keep our town safe and we thank you for that. I appreciate you all for opening up the discussion and continuing to make the best decision for our town. 1 Thank you for your time, Jessica Hammer Jessica Hammer Southland Tour Co. 310-750-4978 south landtourco.com Harada, Patricia From: Sent: To: Subject: Council received email below. Tracy Weaver City Clerk Begin forwarded message: Weaver, Tracy (City Clerk) Monday, February 14, 2022 12:07 PM *ALL CITY CLERKS Fwd: Support of LA County Mask Mandates From: "MacKusick, Suzanne" <suzanne@cycle.org> Date: February 14, 2022 at 10:59:42 AM PST To: ALL ELECTED OFFICIALS <ALLELECTEDOFFICIALS@elsegundo.org> Subject: Support of LA County Mask Mandates Dear El Segundo City Council, I am writing to you about the council sending a letter to the County regarding maintaining the mask mandates. I am in support of the current mask mandates in LA County. A few points to consider: - The current El SEgundo numbers are still right around what they were during the Dec-2020 / Jan-2021 peak numbers - This variant is still highly contagious - There are still high -risk adults and children that need consideration as well. Especially in schools and youth sports Many knee-jerk reactions are that the high -risk people should just stay home, or parents should just keep their high -risk kids home. However, that response has a complete lack of empathy. How are kids supposed to stay mentally healthy when stuck at home all day? How are parents / adults supposed to work? I have a high -risk kid. I have spent many nights up with her and in and out of the hospital watching her struggle to breathe throughout the 10 years of her lift. COVID could be devastating. She has asthma that is triggered by viruses. She landed in the hospital for 5 days in 2019 from a cold. As a parent of a high -risk kid, I have made, and will continue to make, many hard decisions on her behalf. For example: - We kept both our kids for the entirety of the 2020-2021 school year, with two full-time working parents at home who were considered essential workers and were required to be physically present at work on a semi -regular basis. - We brought our kids home every day in January from school for lunch to a) minimize contacts at lunch and b) to protect them during recess as most kid were NOT wearing masks outdoors, despite being required - We continue to only do play -dates outside with other kids who are masked. Nothing indoors, no sleep overs - We continue to play youth sports as a) it is critical that my daughter's lungs stay as healthy as can be to weather her asthma episodes, and b) mental health, however it is getting harder as people and organizations ignore current mandates. Currently, moderate and high -risk youth sports are mandated to wear masks IF social distancing cannot be maintained (e.g. softball / baseball dugouts). This seems perfectly reasonable. close -quarters where kids are literally on top of each other - wear the mask to protect those at risk. Yet, I have not seen either of these youth organizations in town send anything to this effect. It means I have to keep my kids out of the dugout. Because no one will follow the rules. Rules that make sense. I am grateful that AYSO was very pro -active about the current mandates. It was unfortunate that not everyone complied, however I appreciate the organization's efforts. It continues to be the high -risk members of our community that make sacrifices to severely impact mental health, while trying to protect physical health. I cannot tell you how exhausted I am, as a parent of a high risk child. I can't let up. I hate masks too. But me letting up could mean my child ends up dead. I just don't understand how people can have such a lack of empathy towards these high -risk members of our community. My child is just one example. I know of parents who are immunocompromised fighting cancer that are balancing their child's mental health with their own physical health. Teachers that are immunocompromised who are not even allowed to ask children to follow the current rules, or to remind them. Let that sink in. A Teacher is not allowed to remind a child of rules currently in place. Taking that out of the covid context - it sounds absurd. What is being suggested is that high -risk people continue to put themselves at a physical and mental health risk for the sake of the minor discomfort of others. What happened to being a village? What happened to empathy? What happened to protecting those in our 2 community who need the little extra help? They say it takes a village to raise a child. Where is that village in a time of need? Please support reasonable masking requests: Indoors and outdoors when social distancing cannot be maintained. Thank you, Suzanne MacKusick El Segundo Resident Harada, Patricia From: Weaver, Tracy (City Clerk) Sent: Monday, February 14, 2022 12:03 PM To: *ALL CITY CLERKS Subject: Fwd: Mask mandate Council received email below. Tracy Weaver City Clerk Begin forwarded message. From: mkaminska2l <mkaminska2l@att.net> Date: February 14, 2022 at 10:59:31 AM PST To: ALL ELECTED OFFICIALS <ALLELECTEDOFFICIALS@elsegundo.org> Subject: Mask mandate Unless there is evidence of significantly lower COVID transmission and positive cases 2 weeks after the Super Bowl, you do not represent me in sending a letter regarding lifting the mask mandate. As someone who sees hundreds of people a day at work, my risk of exposure is high. I'd like a modicum of protection. Perhaps if others were at such risk, they would be more able to relate. If you decide to send this letter, I would hope your attempt to protect you constituents would then extend to supporting showing vaccination records, instead. Melissa Kaminska Sent from my T-Mobile 4G LTE Device Harada, Patricia From: Sent: To: Subject: Council received email below. Tracy Weaver City Clerk Begin forwarded message: Weaver, Tracy (City Clerk) Monday, February 14, 2022 12:02 PM *ALL CITY CLERKS Fwd: Public comment for item H, #2 on mask mandates From: Corrie Zupo <corriezupo@gmail.com> Date: February 14, 2022 at 10:29:21 AM PST To: ALL ELECTED OFFICIALS <ALLELECTEDOFFICIALS@elsegundo.org> Cc: vzupo78@yahoo.com Subject: Public comment for item H, #2 on mask mandates Greetings, I would like to submit a public comment for item H, #2 on mask mandates. Please support parental choice on masks. We are on week 100 since our daycare was impacted by COVID mandates. Our son is almost three and he still can't talk, let alone regulate his emotions. Five days a week he's surrounded by masked adults while his parents work full-time. He has never had a normal daycare experience and he's incredibly low -risk for COVID hospitalization and/or death. For context, our family is triple vaxxed, 100% vaxxed staff and our daycare does weekly PCR testing. At this point, the mask should be a personal choice. Using a cloth mask on little kids is like using a chain -link fence to catch the virus. Kids don't properly wear masks, they touch their face non-stop, there's a 0.00- 0.2% COVID death rate in kids, and a 0.01-1.5% COVID hospitalized rate in kids. Our kids are statistically more likely to die of homicide, suicide, or cancer than from COVID. Enough is enough with mask mandates for our youth. References • https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/child-health.htm • https://www.aap.org/en/pages/2019-novel-coronavirus-covid-19-infections/children-and-covid- 19-state-level-data-report/ Best regards, Corrie Zupo Harada, Patricia From: Weaver, Tracy (City Clerk) Sent: Tuesday, February 15, 2022 8:43 AM To: *ALL CITY CLERKS Subject: FW: LA County mask mandates Council received email below. Thank you, Tracy Weaver I City Clerk City of El Segundo 350 Main Street El Segundo CA 90245 310.524.2305 1 tweaver@elegundo.org I www.elsegundo.org EL, EGUNDO Where big ideas cake off, From: Matt MacKusick <mack@udlug.org> Sent: Tuesday, February 15, 2022 8:13 AM To: ALL ELECTED OFFICIALS <ALLELECTEDOFFICIALS@elsegundo.org> Subject: LA County mask mandates Hello El Segundo City Council, I believe removing mandatory inside mask requirements at this time is premature. I do not support the letter to the County being planned. Please help everyone stay safe as the infection numbers continue to decline. We are on a good path to success, don't give up 10 yards from the finish line. Thank you, Matthew MacKusick El Segundo Resident Harada, Patricia From: Sent: To: Subject: Council received email below. Tracy Sent from my iPhone Begin forwarded message: Weaver, Tracy (City Clerk) Tuesday, February 15, 2022 9:47 AM *ALL CITY CLERKS Fwd: Support of LA County Mask Mandates From: "MacKusick, Suzanne" <suzanne@cycle.org> Date: February 15, 2022 at 9:35:19 AM PST To: ALL ELECTED OFFICIALS <ALLELECTEDOFFICIALS@elsegundo.org> Subject: Re: Support of LA County Mask Mandates Good Morning, One additional question regarding the desire to send a letter to LA County on getting rid of mask mandates - LA County is working to the data, to metrics set up months ago. The data hasn't crossed that line yet. Are you proposing back to the County to use different metrics to determine when mask mandates should and should not be in place? If so, what are those metrics and what is the basis for those metrics? I want to reiterate my support of the current mask mandates put in place by LA County and do NOT support my local elected officials sending a letter to the County on this matter. Thank you, Suzanne MacKusick El Segundo Resident and Parent On Mon, Feb 14, 2022 at 10:59 AM MacKusick, Suzanne <suzanne c cle.or > wrote: Dear El Segundo City Council, I am writing to you about the council sending a letter to the County regarding maintaining the mask mandates. I am in support of the current mask mandates in LA County. A few points to consider: - The current El SEgundo numbers are still right around what they were during the Dec- 2020 / Jan-2021 peak numbers - This variant is still highly contagious - There are still high -risk adults and children that need consideration as well. Especially in schools and youth sports Many knee-jerk reactions are that the high -risk people should just stay home, or parents should just keep their high -risk kids home. However, that response has a complete lack of empathy. How are kids supposed to stay mentally healthy when stuck at home all day? How are parents / adults supposed to work? I have a high -risk kid. I have spent many nights up with her and in and out of the hospital watching her struggle to breathe throughout the 10 years of her lift. COVID could be devastating. She has asthma that is triggered by viruses. She landed in the hospital for 5 days in 2019 from a cold. As a parent of a high -risk kid, I have made, and will continue to make, many hard decisions on her behalf. For example: - We kept both our kids for the entirety of the 2020-2021 school year, with two full-time working parents at home who were considered essential workers and were required to be physically present at work on a semi -regular basis. - We brought our kids home every day in January from school for lunch to a) minimize contacts at lunch and b) to protect them during recess as most kid were NOT wearing masks outdoors, despite being required - We continue to only do play -dates outside with other kids who are masked. Nothing indoors, no sleep overs - We continue to play youth sports as a) it is critical that my daughter's lungs stay as healthy as can be to weather her asthma episodes, and b) mental health, however it is getting harder as people and organizations ignore current mandates. Currently, moderate and high -risk youth sports are mandated to wear masks IF social distancing cannot be maintained (e.g. softball / baseball dugouts). This seems perfectly reasonable. close -quarters where kids are literally on top of each other - wear the mask to protect those at risk. Yet, I have not seen either of these youth organizations in town send anything to this effect. It means I have to keep my kids out of the dugout. Because no one will follow the rules. Rules that make sense. I am grateful that AYSO was very pro -active about the current mandates. It was unfortunate that not everyone complied, however I appreciate the organization's efforts. It continues to be the high -risk members of our community that make sacrifices to severely impact mental health, while trying to protect physical health. I cannot tell you how exhausted I am, as a parent of a high risk child. I can't let up. I hate masks too. But me letting up could mean my child ends up dead. I just don't understand how people can have such a lack of empathy towards these high -risk members of our community. My child is just one example. I know of parents who are immunocompromised fighting cancer that are balancing their child's mental health with their own physical health. Teachers that are immunocompromised who are not even allowed to ask children to follow the current rules, or to remind them. Let that sink in. A Teacher is not allowed to remind a child of rules currently in place. Taking that out of the covid context - it sounds absurd. What is being suggested is that high -risk people continue to put themselves at a physical and mental health risk for the sake of the minor discomfort of others. What happened to being a village? What happened to empathy? What happened to protecting those in our community who need the little extra help? They say it takes a village to raise a child. Where is that village in a time of need? Please support reasonable masking requests: Indoors and outdoors when social distancing cannot be maintained. Thank you, Suzanne MacKusick El Segundo Resident Harada, Patricia From: Weaver, Tracy (City Clerk) Sent: Tuesday, February 15, 2022 1:22 PM To: *ALL CITY CLERKS Subject: FW: Public comment for item #2 re. Mask mandates Council received email below. Thank you, Tracy Weaver I City Clerk City of El Segundo 350 Main Street El Segundo CA 90245 310.524.2305 1 tweaver@elegundo.org I www.elsegundo.org -----Original Message ----- From: leila schuh <leilahelena5@gmail.com> Sent: Tuesday, February 15, 2022 12:53 PM To: ALL ELECTED OFFICIALS <ALLELECTEDOFFICIALS@elsegundo.org> Subject: Public comment for item #2 re. Mask mandates It is time to lift all mask mandates in schools, daycare centers, and all businesses in El Segundo. Mask mandates, especially for children, are cruel psychological stressors. Masks disrupt learning, and reduce children's ability to communicate. Anxiety, depression, suicides have increased amongst children. Time to move on and let children be children again. Time to move on for all of us. No more mask mandates! P.s. Read the small print on the surgical mask box. "THESE MASKS DON'T PREVENT ANY DISEASE". And we all know how ineffective the clothes masks are. Leila k Schuh El Segundo resident Sent from my iPhone 1 Harada, Patricia From: Weaver, Tracy (City Clerk) Sent: Tuesday, February 15, 2022 2:59 PM To: *ALL CITY CLERKS Subject: FW: End mask mandates Council received email below. Thank you, Tracy Weaver I City Clerk City of El Segundo 350 Main Street El Segundo CA 90245 310.524.2305 1 tweaver@elegundo.org I www.elsegundo.org EL EGUNDO Where big ideas Whe off, From: Sasha Taylor <sashaktaylor@gmail.com> Sent: Tuesday, February 15, 2022 2:47 PM To: ALL ELECTED OFFICIALS <ALLELECTEDOFFICIALS@elsegundo.org> Subject: End mask mandates Hi - End all mask mandates, especially for our children. You all are intelligent individuals and you are aware of all the studies on the lack of efficiency of masks to prevent the spread of Covid 19. It is time to take a stand against LA County and end all mask mandates. Thank you, Sasha Taylor 1